Effective Heroes for Ganking

Some heroes are best at lane control, some heroes are best at tanking; logically some heroes are best at ganks -- here comes a list of the more appropriated heroes for ganks, divided in several categories.

Nukers

This might be the most useful category for ganks -- all of these heroes have very powerful abilities that allow them to kill an isolated hero quickly.

(1) Tinker takes advantage of two enemy heroes that have been taking damage.

Lion (Demon Witch)

Probably the most deadly nuker in early game thanks to his powerful ultimate -- Finger of Death. Catching a hero unaware and using the stun and hex combo, plus the ultimate usually spells death for most heroes at low levels. Coupled with a teammate, it's deadly!

Lina (Slayer)

This hero is very similar to Lion. Indeed, just as Lion, Lina owns a deadly ultimate which deals 450 damage at level 1. Also, Lina has a stunning spell (Light Strike Array) and an area-of-effect spell (Dragon Slave). In a team, Lina and Lion combined make a lethal early-game combo.

Boush (Tinker)

(2) Double nukes leave the two heroes scrambling home. Tinker manages to kill Luna.

Tinker is the best nuker of DotA mainly due to his two powers -- Heat Seeking Missle and Laser, which deals more than 600 damage combined. Boush's ultimate is also very useful, it refreshes all of his powers and item cooldowns.

Kel'Thuzad (Lich)

Lich is a perfect hero to hunt and gang in woods since his ultimate is made to be casted when there are several units. Make sure to use your ultimate when there is at least TWO units nearby (including your target hero) since the nova needs to bounce between units. Casting it while there are too many units makes it less potent, as it might not hit your target hero more than once.

Akasha (Queen of Pain)

Here is one of the most dangerous heroes of DotA, at anytime of the game. Because of her blink ability, she can enter and leave the fight easily and cast her spells. She can surprise an enemy with Blink and catch them unaware, initiating the gank. She also has very powerful spells that allow her to deal a lot of damage to her enemies.

Hunters

These are all the heroes which are very good launching surprise attacks due to their skills which can make them invisible or can help them scouting.

Anub'arak (Nerubian Assassin)

Anub'arak is THE hero made to gank, give him a Dagon and he can get rid of anything. Thanks to his ultimate which allows him to become invisible and deal up to 525 damage at higher levels. He can also stun and mana burn his opponents. Attacking while invisible (ultimate) deals damage, combined with the mana burn and stun damage usually spells death of several low hp early game heroes.

(1) Invisible Nerubian Assassin scouts creeping spots.

Rexxar (Beastmaster)

The main point of playing Rexxar is using his pets. Indeed, he has a power which allows him to call two animals -- a Quill Beast, which can slow his targets, and a Hawk, which become invisible at level 4 and allows you to follow every move of one hero. Plus, his ultimate is kind of very powerful because of its cooldown and its stunning ability.

Rikimaru (Stealth Assassin)

This little guy owns an ultimate which makes him invisible permanently when he is not attacking. One of his spells -- Smoke Screen -- inhibits the casting of spells and cancels channeled spells in its area of effect. The biggest advantage of playing Rikimaru is that you can change lane or go to the woods very easily, since it's really hard for the enemies to know if you are gone or not.

Gondar (Bounty Hunter)

This hero is made to hunt. His ultimate -- Track -- allows him to move faster, to see the prey he casted his spell on and gives him a gold bonus if he manages to kill it. He also has a powerful nuke -- Shuriken Toss – which deals direct damage to the enemy. He can also become invisible and deal extra damage thanks to his critical strike ability.

Others

Luna is one of those heroes you cannot fight in a single duel. His ultimate casts until 16 Lucent Beams on every enemy units in the area and so deals a lot of damage. If you are all alone against Luna and he uses his ultimate, you will take all the Beams and probably die. Equipping Luna with Lothar's Edge is always smart -- you just need to find an isolated hero, make sure he is not circled by too many allied units and cast your ultimate for an instant kill!

Chen (Prophet)

Chen is the best "foresting" hero due to his ability to control creeps and give them extra life. You can control until 3 creeps and use their powers which are stuns, slows or net. He can also slow his enemies and deal them random damage. He has also the power of healing all his allied heroes wherever they are in the map.

Balanar (Night Stalker)

Balanar has two sides. By day, he is not very useful -- he does not move and attack very fast and his powers do not have special characteristics. However, by night, he becomes close to immortal. All of his powers are buffed and gain extra effects, like slow or silence, and he moves and attack very fast. That's why Balanar is made to be discreet by day, and gank everyone by night.

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