The gameplay patch isn’t here yet, but it doesn’t mean we have to sit around and complain. It is very unlikely any one player has exhausted the full depth of what Dota has to offer even without any external changes, so today we would like to highlight some extra fun ideas and interactions you could try out to mix up your pubs.
This is a very fun lane combo that is very popular in the professional scene. It creates a sort of “positive feedback loop” that essentially makes both hero exceptionally hard to kill, as long as they get to attack their opponents.
Tether provides all the healing Io receives to a connected teammate. 
Sidekick gives Marci and her ally extra attack damage and also makes them share lifesteal. So, whenever Marci attacks, she heals Io, which heals Marci back through Tether.
It fully works the other way as well, so perhaps getting a 
Wraith Band or a 
Bracer on Io for the laning stage isn’t a bad idea. With both Sidekick and Tether at level two, this duo is already very potent both in terms of damage output and in terms of their survivability. Later on they are downright oppressive and maybe a tad overpowered, unless the enemy commits serious resources towards itemising against this duo specifically.
It should be noted that Marci doesn’t farm creeps quickly enough and might need to get a 
Battle Fury to stay relevant as a carry, which is a massive tempo loss. For this reason we personally prefer this duo in the offlane, where Marci’s job is to run around and create space. With items like 
Black King Bar and 
Skull Basher she can 2v2 against most heroes, getting her gold through kills and assists.
This is a very unreliable combination, as it only works in 1v1 scenarios, but the effect it provides can be game-turning. When OD has his 
Aghanim’s Scepter, he gets a pseudo 
Aeon Disk that blocks one instance of damage that would put OD below 20% HP, and instead applies a strong dispel and gives OD an HP barrier.
What it means is that when under the effects of 
False Promise, any damage that OD takes becomes non-fatal, as long as he has his Aghanim’s upgrade off-cooldown. And as long as OD fights in a 1v1 scenario, he can take as much damage as he wants and he will still end up alive after False Promise expires.
It works because False Promise sums up all damage dealt by a single target into one instance, an instance that can be blocked by OD Aghanim’s after False Promise expires. For the same reason it doesn’t work consistently when OD is attacked by multiple different targets.
This concept, including single damage source interactions only, can be applied to Aeon Disk as well. The caveat is that you have to use False Promise quite early, as Aeon Disk procs at 70% HP, rather than 20% HP. At the same time, having 10 seconds of actual damage invulnerability, without the downside of not being able to deal damage yourself, can be worth it in some cases.
Before you ask: we tried backpacking Aeon Disk and putting it into the main inventory when taking damage under the effects of False Promise, so that the backpack cooldown on Aeon Disk and it’s 2.5 seconds of invulnerability timed precisely with the end of False Promise and… the results are disappointingly predictable: the target still dies, even with the “Combo Breaker” buff still present.
It seems we will have to wait for the next gameplay patch for some time still, but it doesn’t mean our games have to all play out the same. Be creative and innovative, especially since getting Crownfall tokens requires playing very different heroes.
Also don’t forget to share your own cool ideas and interactions in the comment section below. There are others we are still testing out and theorycrafting, so we might make another similar blog post some time in the future.
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