The balance of the individual units in Dota 2 Auto Chess is constantly adjusted and optimized. In this tier list, we have gathered the best units for April 2019 for you.
What is the basis for the list? The tier list was created based on the data from Metabomb and Dotahaven. Additionally, the author’s own experience has been incorporated. All rankings explaining why the units are strong were also created by the author.
The tier list is meant to serve as a good classification for you. However, this does not mean that the corresponding units are always the best in every situation.
In this list, we show you the strongest and weakest units sorted by gold. Currently, the two gods that were introduced on March 30 are missing.
They will be added in the coming days when the community has gathered more experience with them. However, they seem strong at first glance, especially when taking advantage of the race bonus.
If you want to familiarize yourself with Dota 2 Auto Chess in general, you can find a beginner guide on it.
The best units for 1 gold
When you start a match, you initially have units for 1 gold available. Here, you can already lay the foundation for the future team setup.
These units are top tier:
- Axe – Orc/Warrior
- Bounty Hunter – Goblin/Assassin
- Anti-Mage – Elf/Demon Hunter
The character Axe provides many synergies relatively early on. Orcs can be quickly found with Juggernaut or Beastmaster for two gold each, and three warriors create an early bonus effect.
With Bounty Hunter, it’s similar with the goblins. Additionally, the unit is already quite strong due to its damage.
The Anti-Mage takes out many units that require mana, especially in the beginning. In the midgame, the Anti-Mage falls off a bit, but becomes stronger again in the endgame.
These units are strong:
- Clockwork – Goblin/Mech
- Tinker – Goblin/Mech
- Enchantress – Beast/Druid
For Clockwork and Tinker , they are strong due to their early synergies. 3 goblins and 2 mechs can almost completely be covered by the both of them. Add in a Bounty Hunter, and you have a strong initial lineup.
Enchantress has strong healing at the beginning. Additionally, she can be quickly leveled up with the druid skill. She can also be regularly bought, combined, and resold to generate 1 gold.
You can do without these units:
- Bat Rider – Troll/Knight
- Tiny – Elemental/Warrior
- Shadow Shaman – Troll/Shaman
The troll bonus would only become effective with the Troll Warlord, and you don’t necessarily get him. Additionally, both Bat Rider and Shadow Shaman are weak in terms of stats.
Tiny has synergies with warriors, but also anti-synergies by throwing enemies away with his ability. Sometimes this saves enemy units’ lives, and they can use their ultimate ability again.
The best units for 2 gold
With the units for 2 gold, you can create initial synergies. Accordingly, the units benefit from what you bought in the first rounds.
These units are top tier:
- Beastmaster – Orc/Hunter
- Juggernaut – Orc/Warrior
- Timbersaw – Goblin/Mech
- Queen of Pain – Demon/Assassin
For Beastmaster and Juggernaut , it is somewhat similar to Axe. They are orcs, which makes earning the bonus easy. Three warriors are also easily obtainable in the early game.
Timbersaw also has good chances as a goblin and mech to generate bonuses with Clockwork, Bounty Hunter, and/or Tinker .
Queen of Pain is the first demon and therefore important as it brings a 50% damage bonus. Additionally, she does good AoE damage with her abilities in the early game.
These units are strong:
- Slardar – Naga/Warrior
- Luna – Elf/Knight
Slardar has a high base damage and is also a warrior. Good conditions to complement the team with orcs.
Luna has attacks that hit multiple opponents, making her versatile. An early combination with two knights like Chaos Knight or Omniknight is possible. With a second knight, Luna’s strength increases, although the other knights are currently rather weak.
You can do without these units:
- Crystal Maiden – Human/Mage
- Puck – Elf/Mage
- Morphling – Elemental/Assassin
- Furion – Elf/Druid
- Slark – Naga/Assassin (currently removed because too weak)
This list includes two mages, Crystal Maiden and Puck. Mages can be strong when you have many of them together. Alone, however, they are weak, except for Razor. Puck is absolutely required for the dragon combo, but it is currently not as strong as it used to be. Crystal Maiden could make her big appearance in combination with the gods, though.
The Morphling has a similar problem to Tiny. When he uses his ability, he jumps to another position on the field. Although he is invulnerable, this also gives the opposing team time.
Although Furion and Treant (3 gold) are identical in races/classes, Furion’s stats are weaker, and his skill is more useless. Therefore, he ranks much lower.
The best units for 3 gold
The midgame is largely driven by units for 3 and 4 gold. However, especially in the 3 gold area, there are many special units that are often only useful in combination.
These units are top tier:
- Shadow Fiend – Demon/Warlock
- Terrorblade – Demon/Demon Hunter
The two demons Shadow Fiend and Terrorblade are extremely strong units in the midgame and deal a lot of damage. Since not every demon is used, they usually benefit from their race bonus. Terrorblade also received an update in March that significantly strengthened his ability.
These units are strong:
- Razor – Elemental/Mage
- Windranger – Elf/Hunter
- Lycan – Beast/Warrior
- Treant – Elf/Druid
The Razor deals good damage and hits many targets with his attacks. If you upgrade a Razor to level 2 early, it can enable a mage team, which is particularly strong in the midgame. However, you should have eliminated nearly every other player by midgame.
The unit Windranger has strong area damage in the form of her arrow attack if positioned well and shot in the right direction. However, if this arrow goes nowhere, Windranger was useless in the fight. The elf bonus allows evasion and simultaneously strengthens other elves.
Lycan is weak at level 1. However, at the second level, he usually lives long enough to summon his wolves, which deal good damage. As a beast and warrior, he allows good combinations with Tusk and of course other warriors.
The druid Treant can be easily leveled up. As an elf, he can be used to give much-needed evasion chance to Anti-Mage, Windranger and Templar Assassin early on.
You can do without these units:
- Lina – Human/Mage
- Abaddon – Undead/Knight
- Viper – Dragon/Assassin
- Venomancer – Beast/Assassin
- Riki – Satyr/Assassin (currently removed because too weak)
- Sand King – Beast/Assassin (currently removed because too weak)
Lina as a mage suffers from the same problems as Crystal Maiden and Keeper of the Light for 4 gold. Strong in a full mage group in the midgame, but otherwise rather weak.
Abaddon is an average unit himself, but has the disadvantage that the other knights are currently not that strong. Consequently, Abaddon is also neglected.
The unit Viper works well in combination with other assassins and is needed for the dragon bonus. Unless you build your team around it, you don’t need Viper . As a single unit, it’s very weak.
Venomancer is only good if you want to defeat opponents particularly quickly. By spawning additional creatures, you deal more damage to the opponent’s courier. Otherwise, the unit is weak, and you rarely rely on the bonus of all four beasts.
The best units for 4 gold
The epic units are almost all really good. However, Medusa and Ork Disruptor are so good that they put some legendary units to shame.
These units are top tier:
- Medusa – Naga/Hunter
- Lone Druid – Beast/Druid
- Ork Disruptor – Orc/Shaman
The Medusa still has an extremely strong CC despite several nerfs. That’s why she’s often used. Particularly at level 2, she can single-handedly decide a duel. As a Naga, she harmonizes excellently with Tidehunter, who also relies on CC.
The Lone Druid has a powerful weapon with his tier companion. As a druid, he can be quickly raised to level 3. Usually, he is also the only unit for 4 or 5 gold to reach this level.
The Ork Disruptor has an AoE silence, contributing to CC as well. Moreover, he is an Ork, which harmonizes wonderfully with the three cheap and also strong Orks. As a shaman, he only needs one more to hex an opponent at the start of the game, which is again CC.
These units are strong:
- Kunka – Human/Warrior
- Troll Warlord – Troll/Warrior
- Doom – Demon/Warrior
- Necrophos – Undead/Warlock
- Templar Assassin – Elf/Assassin
Kunka, Troll Warlord, and Doom can all work alone, but impress particularly in the combination of warriors. The Troll deals lots of damage, while Kunka hits opponents in AoE with his ship. Doom is a demon and, therefore, takes advantage of his racial benefits.
Necrophos is generally a strong unit but seldom realizes his synergies.
Templar Assassin is also strong on her own, but especially useful in combination with other elves and/or assassins. Usually, you only build on these units when you already possess a Templar Assassin.
- Alchemist – Goblin/Warlock
- Keeper of the Light – Human/Mage
You can do without these units:
The Alchemist is currently weak, and his skill doesn’t have enough impact on opponents. As a cheaper unit, he might be useful, but his goblin bonus usually comes too late in the game.
Keeper of the Light suffers from the same problems as the other mages.
The best units for 5 gold
In the late game, legendary units come into play. And many of them are really, really strong. Getting a unit to level two can decide a game in some situations.
These units are top tier:
- Tidehunter – Naga/Hunter
- Enigma – Elemental/Warlock
- Lich – Undead/Mage
- Techies – Goblin/Mech
The Tidehunter along with Medusa has the strongest CC in the game. Coincidentally, both are Naga and thus increase the magic resistance of all allied units. Additionally, both are hunters and can still deal damage to opponents.
Enigma and Lich are both strong at dealing damage. Both also hit multiple opponents with their abilities.
Techies can place a bomb that hits a large part of the field, dealing damage. He is also a goblin and mech. Even though the bonuses decline in the late game, a strong team can still be formed from them.
These units are strong:
- Death Prophet
- Gyrocopter – Dwarf/Mech
The two units Death Prophet and Gyrocopter are only slightly weaker than the other four legendaries. Particularly if you’re lacking area damage, Gyrocopter is a good alternative.
You can do without these units:
Legendary units are generally so strong that they displace many others. If you have a weak unit that doesn’t contribute to synergies, you should always replace it with legendary units.
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