With Medusa we continue our Hero Analysis rubric. Last week we analyzed Queen of Pain, and today’s hero is Medusa. She is a ranged carry who consistently ranks high in popularity and effectiveness in various Dotabuff rates (from where all our statistics comes.) As of September 2024, she has a win rate hovering around 50%. Despite a few counters, Medusa's durability and ability to scale into the late game make her a staple in many drafts. Her pick rate remains steady at 82% in the highest brackets, reflecting her strength as a reliable, farm-heavy carry.
In-Game Traits
Farm-Dependent Carry: Medusa is extremely item-dependent and requires a strong farming start to become effective in the mid- and late-game. Her skillset, especially Split Shot and Mystic Snake, allows her to farm faster than most other heroes once she has a few core items. Her farming ability makes her a natural late-game powerhouse, but she is vulnerable in the early game when she lacks items and mobility.
Tankiness Through Mana: The cornerstone of Medusa's survivability is her Mana Shield, which reduces a portion of incoming damage by depleting her mana pool instead of her health. This makes her deceptively tanky, but her durability is directly tied to her mana pool. Itemization choices should focus on increasing her mana and tankiness, as losing mana means losing survivability.
Multi-Target Damage Output: Split Shot is Medusa's primary farming tool and damage source in team fights. It allows her to attack multiple enemies at once, making her an excellent pick for long, drawn-out engagements. This ability comes with a damage penalty, but with proper itemization, she can still deal significant damage to all targets.
Late-Game Dominator: Medusa's power curve is heavily skewed towards the late game. While she may struggle early on, her itemization allows her to become one of the most dominant late-game carries in Dota 2. She can clear waves quickly, take down multiple opponents simultaneously, and outlast enemy teams in prolonged engagements.
Team Fight Controller: Medusa's Stone Gaze is a game-changing ability that can turn the tide of battles. When activated, it forces enemies to either turn away or risk being petrified, immobilized, and taking increased physical damage. This makes her particularly strong in chaotic team fights where enemies cannot always focus on positioning.
Early Game
In the early game, Medusa is relatively weak and vulnerable to pressure. Her Mana Shield offers some protection but needs more mobility and damage to fight effectively against aggressive lane opponents. The primary goal during this phase is to survive and farm as efficiently as possible. Secure early last hits and avoid engagements unless you're confident of survival.
Starting Items: Medusa's starting items often include Wraith Band, Tango, and Faerie Fire for survivability and last-hitting power. Ring of Basilius is another excellent item, as it boosts her mana regeneration and armor.
Farming Tactics: Early points in Mystic Snake help Medusa secure last hits and regenerate mana. She should aim to safely farm in her lane, while occasionally using Mystic Snake to harass enemies and secure range creeps.
Core Early Items: Power Treads for attack speed and survivability, Magic Wand for emergency burst regen, and Wraith Bands to boost early stats are ideal for improving Medusa's laning presence.
Mid-Game
The mid-game is a critical transition period for Medusa, where her focus should be maximizing the farm. During this phase, Medusa should build core items while avoiding unnecessary fights until she has the necessary items to contribute significantly to engagements.
Key Farming Items: Manta Style and Eye of Skadi are two of the most essential items in Medusa's build. Manta Style provides an excellent mix of mobility, survivability, and farming efficiency. It also allows her to remove debuffs and split illusions to speed up her farming. Eye of Skadi offers a massive health and mana boost, making Medusa incredibly tanky through Mana Shield.
Split Push and Jungle Farming: Medusa can begin transitioning into jungle farming more frequently, using Split Shot to clear camps quickly. It's crucial to farm efficiently, clearing jungle stacks and pushing out lanes to maintain high net worth.
Avoiding Fights: Medusa should avoid direct confrontations until she has at least one or two core items. Farm safely, and rely on teammates to defend objectives or engage the enemy. Medusa only joins fights when she has enough farm to contribute meaningfully.
Late Game
Medusa thrives in the late game. With a complete set of items, she becomes a nearly unkillable juggernaut, capable of dealing massive AoE damage while absorbing incredible amounts of punishment through her Mana Shield.
Critical Late-Game Items: Core late-game items for Medusa include Butterfly for evasion and attack speed, Daedalus for critical damage, and Satanic for sustain. Additionally, Aghanim's Scepter or Aghanim's Shard enhances her Mystic Snake and provides a powerful dispel.
Team Fight Strategy: In late-game team fights, Medusa should position herself at the backline, using Split Shot to deal massive AoE damage. Stone Gaze becomes a pivotal tool in these fights, as it can freeze enemies in place.
Sieging High Ground: Medusa's ability to attack multiple targets with Split Shot makes her one of the best heroes for sieging high ground. She can safely whittle down enemy structures with high durability and damage while defending herself against enemy initiations.
Itemization
Manta Style: Provides mobility, stats, and the ability to dispel debuffs, making it an essential item in Medusa's build.
Eye of Skadi: A must-have for Medusa due to its significant increase in health and mana, boosting her Mana Shield effectiveness.
Butterfly: Increases Medusa's survivability through evasion and adds significant attack speed for faster farming and more effective Split Shot attacks.
Satanic: Gives Medusa a lifesteal, allowing her to stay alive longer in fights, even when her Mana Shield runs low.
Lore
In the lore of Dota 2, Medusa is the youngest of three gorgon sisters. She was once mortal, but after witnessing the tragic fates of her elder sisters, she sought a form of immortality. Medusa swore allegiance to a goddess in exchange for eternal life, but this came with a price—her humanity. Cursed to turn anyone who gazed at her into stone, Medusa became a feared figure across the lands. Despite her monstrous appearance and powers, she remains a tragic figure, haunted by her lost identity.
Latest Updates
In the latest patches, Medusa received reworks to her abilities, primarily affecting how her mana usage and tankiness interact. The Mana Shield and Split Shot mechanics have been applied. However, some nerfs have been used as well. Mystic Snake no longer slows enemy movement or turn rates, and its cooldown has been significantly increased, reducing her early-game harassment potential. The Stone Gaze ability has also increased its mana cost, making it more expensive to use in prolonged fights. Despite these adjustments, Medusa remains a formidable late-game presence due to her high scaling potential and synergy with items like Manta Style and Eye of Skadi, which bolster her survivability and damage output.
Benefits
Late-game dominance: Medusa is one of the best scaling carries in the game.
High survivability: Her Mana Shield absorbs large amounts of damage.
Team fight utility: Stone Gaze can turn crucial engagements, petrifying enemies and creating a window for counter-attacks.
Multi-target damage: With Split Shot, Medusa can farm multiple camps or deal damage to several heroes in fights.
Low-risk farming: Her ability to farm efficiently and from a distance minimizes gank risk.
Downsides
Weak early game: Medusa struggles in the laning phase and is highly dependent on a farm.
Mana vulnerability: Heroes who drain or burn mana, like Anti-Mage or Lion, severely counter Medusa.
Item dependency: Medusa needs a significant amount of farm to become relevant, making her vulnerable to early aggression.
Slow pace: She requires time to build up power, and Medusa's team can suffer if the enemy pushes early.
Abilities
Split Shot: Medusa fires projectiles at multiple targets, reducing her main attack's damage but allowing her to deal consistent AoE damage in fights.
Mystic Snake: A bouncing nuke that deals damage and drains mana from targets, replenishing Medusa's mana in the process.
Mana Shield: Converts incoming damage into mana loss, making Medusa incredibly tanky when she has a large mana pool.
Stone Gaze (Ultimate): Enemies facing Medusa are gradually petrified, slowing them and increasing their susceptibility to physical damage. A potent team fight ability, this can turn fights in her favor by incapacitating enemies.
Hints and Tips to Master
Farm efficiently: Maximize your farm by alternating between jungle and lane, using Split Shot to clear multiple camps quickly.
Positioning is vital: Stay at the back in team fights, utilizing your range to dish out damage while keeping Mana Shield active.
Conserve your mana: Be mindful of your mana pool, as it's essential for your survivability. Use Mystic Snake to regain mana when needed.
Build defensively first: Items like Eye of Skadi and Butterfly offer survivability and damage, allowing you to stay in fights longer.
Recommended Allies
Keeper of the Light
KotL is one of Medusa's best supporters due to his Chakra Magic ability, which replenishes her mana. Since Medusa's survivability relies on her Mana Shield, KotL ensures she always has a sufficient mana pool to tank damage. Additionally, his Illuminate can help clear waves, allowing Medusa to focus on farming while KotL handles lane pressure. KotL's Will-o-Wisp also synergizes well with Medusa's Stone Gaze, giving her time to petrify enemies during crucial team fights.
Omniknight
Omniknight's Guardian Angel provides Medusa with immunity from physical damage, which perfectly complements her Mana Shield, making her nearly invulnerable during fights. Repel (Heavenly Grace) also protects her from debuffs, allowing Medusa to farm or fight without being slowed or stunned by enemy disables. His healing abilities help her sustain herself through mid-game fights before her late-game dominance.
Vengeful Spirit
Venge's Vengeance Aura boosts Medusa's damage output, amplifying her effectiveness in fights, especially with Split Shot. Her Swap ability is crucial for repositioning Medusa out of dangerous situations, ensuring that the immobile carry can survive when caught out of position. This combination makes Vengeful Spirit a fantastic ally in both offensive and defensive scenarios.
Magnus
Empower from Magnus gives Medusa bonus attack damage and cleave, making her already potent Split Shot even more devastating in team fights. This allows Medusa to farm faster and deal with multiple heroes in fights. Magnus' Reverse Polarity also sets up perfect situations for Medusa to use Stone Gaze, potentially petrifying the entire enemy team during engagements.
Disruptor
Disruptor provides robust team fight control through Kinetic Field and Static Storm, which prevent enemies from escaping Medusa's Stone Gaze. His Glimpse ability can also bring fleeing enemies back into Medusa's range, allowing her to finish off kills. Disruptor's utility in controlling the battlefield makes him an ideal partner for Medusa in prolonged engagements.
Counters
Anti-Mage
Anti-Mage is Medusa's most notorious counter due to his Mana Break ability, which burns Medusa's mana on every hit. Since Medusa's Mana Shield relies on having a large mana pool to survive, Anti-Mage can quickly deplete her defenses and render her vulnerable. Additionally, Mana Void deals devastating damage based on her remaining mana, often turning the tide of battles.
Nyx Assassin
NA's Mana Burn works similarly to Anti-Mage's mana drain but does so in bursts rather than over multiple attacks. This ability heavily damages Medusa by burning her mana, crippling her Mana Shield. Additionally, Spiked Carapace can reflect Medusa's Mystic Snake, stunning her in fights, while Nyx's Vendetta provides a strong initiation against her.
Lion
Lion's Mana Drain quickly removes Medusa's mana, significantly weakening her. Once her mana pool is depleted, she loses the defensive power of Mana Shield and becomes an easier target to kill. Lion's burst damage from Finger of Death can also finish her off in team fights once her mana is drained, making him one of the most effective disablers against Medusa.
Doom
Doom is a significant threat to Medusa because his ultimate, Doom, prevents her from casting any abilities, including Mana Shield and Stone Gaze. This leaves her completely vulnerable during the duration of the silence. Additionally, Doom's Infernal Blade deals percentage-based damage, which is highly effective against Medusa's large health pool, particularly in the late game.
Invoker
Invoker's versatility allows him to be a threat to Medusa at all stages of the game. EMP can burn Medusa's mana in an area, making her easy to kill during fights. Cold Snap and Deafening Blast can also disable and disrupt her, making it hard for her to output consistent damage. Invoker's ability to control fights and deplete mana makes him a solid counter to Medusa.