Top 10 Dota 2 Heroes for New Players

Phantom Assassin

PA has always been a great hero to stomp pubs. With some great new talents in the new patch, Phantom Assassin is one of the best heroes for new players to start carrying with. Especially after the changes in 7.07 which removed True Strike from the game, making evasion a useful tool well into the late game.

Why Phantom Assassin is a good hero for beginners:

No hard counter to evasion since 7.07 means Phantom Assassin can scale better into the ultra late game once enemy carries have MKBs.
Simple but versatile itemization.
Very easy to execute (it’s a two button hero after all)
Good counterpick against popular, squishy carries like Sniper, Drow Ranger and Anti Mage.

Viper

Who would have thought Viper would be on this last after 7.07? Well buckle up, because it’s still a great hero to win games with, and here’s why. Viper is a lane decimator, plain and simple. Very few heroes can 1v1 against Viper and very few can stand to lane against it. Viper’s shortcomings appear in the mid to late game, when other carries start to become powerful and overshadow Viper’s more early game oriented skill set. However, that early game power spike after the laning phase is often when most games are decided.

Why Viper is a good hero for beginners:

Unparalleled laning ability, especially in 1v1 mid matchups. Viper is always a solid pick if you’re one of those first pick mid types.
Unique and powerful talents that allow Viper to be relevant late game.
It’s a one button hero! Easy to itemize and easy to execute.

Bloodseeker

Bloodseeker is such a versatile hero. It can pretty much be played in any lane (even the jungle, if you so wish), and can squash any dreams and hopes of enemy carries in the mid game.

Why Bloodseeker is a good hero for beginners:

BKB Piercing pure damage ultimate that scales well thanks to talents.
Extremely strong in the mid game when enemy carries are still struggling to come online.
Great solo pick off potential.
Can be very difficult to push high ground against if Bloodseeker is Level 25 with the Blood Rite cooldown talent.

Abaddon

One of the best anti-carries in the game, Abaddon doesn’t really lose its lane to any hero. Sit in any lane you want, as there’s not a single carry in the game that wins its lane against Abaddon. Build whatever items you fancy, as Abaddon is another versatile, yet tanky hero, and push towers with your team.

Why Abaddon is a good hero for beginners:

Abaddon doesn’t really die (one of the lowest average deaths on a hero in the game).
Great for pushing objectives, which secures an early advantage for the rest of your team and gives map control.
Can do a lot of damage in teamfights just by staying alive.
Can be built as a support or carry, as a late game securer or mid game pusher, or even just a Vlads and Mek carrier.

Spirit Breaker

Want to know the most annoying thing in Dota 2? It’s being perma-bashed by a mooing space cow. Spirit Breaker is still an extremely strong tempo controller that doesn’t fall off in the late game. Bashes never go out of fashion. Run around the map and create chaos. Since you’re also one of the tankiest heroes in the game, Spirit Breakers don’t need to worry about dying. That’s not true. Don’t dive towers, however fun it may be!

Why Spirit Breaker is a good hero for beginners:

Bashes are Icefrog’s gift to Dota-kind. Spirit Breaker can stun lock enemy carries or simply take out a support from the fight.
Global presence means enemies don’t feel safe showing on the map after the laning phase.
Gives a lot of information and vision to your allies as you’re constantly charging around the map.
Spirit Breaker doesn’t have to carry the team on its shoulders to be useful. The utility of bashes is enough to secure a game if played crisply.

Crystal Maiden

There are very few supports on this list, because supports actually require a lot of depth and understanding to play. As most readers of this article are probably still on their journey to discover Dota 2 fully, I don’t recommend picking supports without understanding the game. However, Crystal Maiden is a great hero to start with, especially in the 7.07 patch. After receiving several significant buffs from previous patches, it’s time to start running around the map with your Freezing Field.

Why Crystal Maiden is a good hero for beginners:

Global mana regen aura that’s always useful, and can turn the tide in your team’s favour for certain mana-dependent lineups.
If you know how to stack and pull camps, it’s easy to kill neutrals and gain gold and experience. (The old Jungle Crystal Maiden is dead. Don’t try it.)
Not an item dependent hero so doesn’t really need items to scale and be useful for the team.

Chaos Knight

A few patches ago, Chaos Knight would not be on this list. It used to be an extremely situational hero, who had better counterparts and was always still probably countered by popular AOE heroes. But all that’s changed now, and Chaos Knight is one of the best situational picks in the game and still very easy to execute. Pick Chaos Knight when you see that the enemy team doesn’t have any great AOE spells and are mostly single target damage. In lower MMR games, this is pretty much always the case.

Why Chaos Knight is a good hero for beginners:

Very few people counter pick in beginner tier matches, and Chaos Knight needs to be counter picked or it can wreak havoc.
Scales really well into the late game.
A tanky hero that can also close the gap with its spells

Wraith King

The king of wraiths has always been a staple beginner carry. Often memed for being a one button hero, it’s still extremely strong and has an amazing mechanic that stifles rampant feeding: reincarnation.

Why Wraith King is a good hero for beginners:

Different ways to build this carry due to versatile itemization choices.
Like Abaddon, not an easy hero to die with.
Roshan’s new Refresher Orb in 7.07 allows for amazing triple or even quadruple reincarnation plays.
Good balance of tankiness versus damage dealing.

Omniknight

I said there weren’t going to be many supports on this list, but I have to mention this Slacks favourite as it’s been up there for so long as one of the best pub winning support heroes. Omniknight is just one of those heroes that can turn stupid teammates into unkillable monsters. Heroes that help your team are always going to put you in an advantage, since you can be sure no one on the enemy team is helping their teammates like you are.

Why Omniknight is a good hero for beginners:

Knowing you’re there to help is great for teammate’s morale, and allows them to make more aggressive plays while mitigating the risk.
Doesn’t need too many items to be useful.
Has talents to make up for its shortcomings late game.
Very powerful Aghs that can swing lategame in your team’s favour.

Necrophos

Necrophos was the big daddy of 7.06, and the very first glimmers of 7.07 seem to suggest that its days as a pubstomper aren’t over yet. With a god tier 58.49% winrate in the beginner’s bracket, Necrophos is the best Dota 2 hero to pick overall if you want to win games with an easy to execute hero.

Why Necrophos is a good hero for beginners:

Reaper’s Scythe benches enemies, making them fall even further behind in gold and XP, essentially punishing enemy’s deaths even more. Especially helpful for beginners since they die so much.
The longer teamfights continue, the more damage Necrophos deals.
Icefrog still hasn’t quite managed to balance this hero completely, and it shows in the winrate. Still a very strong and slightly broken hero.

The Top 10 Dota 2 Heroes for New Players Are:

Phantom Assassin
Viper
Bloodseeker
Abaddon
Spirit Breaker
Crystal Maiden
Chaos Knight
Wraith King
Omniknight
Necrophos

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This list has been compiled with the help of 7.07 Dotabuff meta rankings, keeping in mind the best, easy to execute heroes with high win rates in the sub 2k MMR bracket.