Squee, Spleen and Spoon, The Goblin Techies Guide

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Drawn by my friend, aliu-
Squee and Spleen, Goblin Techies.
Squee's Name Originates from the Card Game, Magic: The Gathering!
By 1Mangoo.


Hero Story
Devilishly clever, The Goblin Techies, despite their small physical presence, are a force to be reckoned with. In line with their Goblin brethren, the Techies have the skill of laying mines in the earth, invisible to the naked eye. Also, after extensive training with the Orcish voodoo priests of Kalimdor, the Techies are adept at laying paralysis-inducing traps along with their potent explosives. Wary be the foe who takes these three lightly.


Pros
• Passive and effective play
• Awesome team play and offensive hero
• Possibly the best farmer in the game
• Longest ranged hero (without any skill points!)
• Can change the heat of battle with one stasis mine
• Can be a ton of fun

Cons
• Low hit points
• Low damage output
• Difficult lane micro-management
• Mines can be countered by true sight
• Slowest move speed in the game

Introduction
One, two, and three, we're counting heroes sprinting down the middle lane, 5 remote mines, a stasis, and landmines lining the tower. They zone into the tower, and the mines ignite the entire field, craters filling, creeps cashed, heroes dropping, the sound fills the air, triple kill. The players go wild, scream, whine, bang there head against a desk, or even alt q q in vain. But who could've done such a thing? Out from the trees, Our sentinel heroes emerge, The Goblin Techies. The one man (or unit!) army.

Yep, a little over the top, but you get my vibe.

They (now referred to as he) are notorious for killing their enemies hundreds of units away with there remote mines and scoring first blood with suicide. But this guy isn't all about kills, he can assist in saving lives with stasis traps. From start to finish, you can expect to wreck havoc onto the enemy.

You can consider Techies as a farming deity because that's what he does best. The Techies are dirty little buggers that can take down creep waves in less than 4 seconds by just 4 clicks. He can be Passive, Offensive, or just plain annoying. With his ability to deny deaths, he is the king of sprees.

Now of course, in your typical game, you often you can find the Techies moving up and down lanes, laying mines all game. I feel this is the wrong way to play this hero, as you become under levelled. Techies is fun at heart, but fairly difficult to play. I hope this guide can teach people a new, more effective way to play him to adapt to enemy heroes and situations.

The Basics
The Goblin Techies isn't very newb friendly, but many people tend to think he is. When people begin playing as him, they fix themselves on what they remember from ladder play. The Goblins suiciding into buildings, units , and even trees. You should forget this, for this is how you get onto the path of the suicidal Techies.

As a fair warning, I'd like to say that I am a pub player, that sometimes sticks his head in a DXD league, but never get around to playing the Techies in these IH leagues-- since -RD is often played and Techies is not included in the pooling process. I can tell you that my play style was designed, learned, and catered towards an -EM, or standard gaming environment (aka, pubbies--sue me).

Stats

Range: 650 | Move Speed: 280
Primary: INT
Str: 17 + 2 | Agi: 14 + 1.3 | Int: 22 + 2.9
Damage: 24 – 26 | HP: 473 | Mana: 286
HP Regen: 0.76 | Mana Regen: 0.9
Attack Speed: 1.46 | Armour: 0
Also note the unique thing about Techies is that he is the only hero to have a base regeneration of 0.02 mana regeneration per second. Meaning Void stone would double the amount of regen given.

Abilities
All of the Goblin Techies skills need to be activated and are not passive. Familiarize yourself with all of these skills, they all prove importance (even the detonate skill!)

Skill # 1 - Land Mines

Plants an invisible land mine that waits indefinitely for an enemy. The explosion deals damage. You may only have 15 placed at one time.

Level 1 - Deals 300 damage.
Level 2 - Deals 400 damage.
Level 3 - Deals 500 damage.
Level 4 - Deals 600 damage.
Cooldown:25/20/15/12 seconds.
Area of Effect: 200 for full damage, 500 for half.
Mana Cost:125/150/175/205
Cast Time: Instant.

Authors Say:
This is your basic skill. Probably your most common one for farming and at some point, a big role in tactics. At level 4, these land mines do approximately 450 damage to heroes, and 300 to towers. The reason why they do approximately 450 damage is because you must take armour and magic resistance into account. Armour can be very misleading, especially on heavily armoured tanks (Dragon Knight for example). Also note that Vanguards and Stout Shields do reduce damage from this mine (and only this one).

Don't just place one in the midst of an empty area. I'll go over this more in the Tactics category. 15 landmines is the cap of how many you can have on the map. After that, your oldest mines will be replaced with any newer ones placed. Don't worry about this though, I've never gotten that many on at once any who. If you are ever to plant 15 mines down at once, you're doing something wrong. One, your planting way too much, and you're going to be under levelled. Or two, your planting in bad areas.

This skill is not blocked by Linkins' Sphere or Spell immunity (BKB). Some of the highlights of the 6.50 update gave the Goblin Techie's mines the ability to detonate by floating heroes. This does not mean flying, which was a mistake I had made. Flying units include Crows, the flying Dragons at neutral creeps, and other I may have forgotten. However, none of the heroes "fly".

Skill # 2 - Stasis Trap

Plants an invisible Stasis Trap that stuns nearby enemy units when detonated.
Level 1 - Stuns for 3 seconds.
Level 2 - Stuns for 4 seconds.
Level 3 - Stuns for 5 seconds.
Level 4 - Stuns for 6 seconds.
Cooldown:20/16/13/10 seconds.
Area of Effect: 450
Mana Cost:80/110/140/160
Cast Time: 2 seconds.

Authors Say:
The stasis mine is an awesome disable, capable of stunning an entire team. It's game-breaking and even I'm surprised it hasn't been hit by the nerf stick. Really, I have to emphasis how strong this mine is. At level one it has a durability of 4.5 minutes, levelling to 5/5.5/6 minutes. When this mine is triggered by a unit, it waits 2 seconds and then goes off, regardless if the unit is still in that area. It also has a 3 second time after the mine is planted for it to be destroyed.

This skill is not blocked by Linkin's Sphere, but is blocked by Spell immunity (BKB).

Using Stasis Traps Properly
If you're setting a trap, plant stasis in areas where a creep cannot reach. When you're in a middle of a fight, just plant it in the most convenient spot!


The only way a creep could reach that stasis mine is if it was agroed to that position. It is also a likely place where an enemy hero would go to (like Pudge trying to get a clear shot).

Other examples of proper use would be using Guinsoo. Planting stasis before hand and then using Guinsoo to keep them into position (if they're fast).

Skill # 3 - Suicide Squad, Attack!

Sacrifice yourself for the greater good. Deals massive area of effect damage.
Level 1 - Deals 650 damage.
Level 2 - Deals 850 damage.
Level 3 - Deals 1150 damage.
Level 4 - Deals 1550 damage.
Cooldown: 75 seconds.
Area of Effect: 500
Mana Cost:100/125/150/175
Cast Time: Instant.
Auto cast available.

Authors Say:
This skill is amazing early game, as it'll reel in your first blood or even a combination of both a double kill and first blood! Suiciding is also a great way of levelling your team-mates (if you're laned with one). For maximum effect, the suicide must be within 200 units. Also remember the damage is reduced by armour. It also does not affect buildings. NEVER run into a crowd of people when you have full hit points just for a suicide. This is stupid. Use your smarts and suicide when prompted. Even this skill has some tactic laced to it. Hell, you can even use this skill to save an ally. We all know the enemy is scared of suicides, use it to your advantage and run in pretending your going to do it. Here's a quote from Totalnewbie's mind tricks guide:

"Ahh...the I'm-going-to-run-up-to-you-and-make-you-think-I'm-going-to-suicide trick. When the majority of the people see a Techies run up to them, they will retreat in fears of getting blown up. This moves them away from the creep line, which does not enable them to get last hit or denies. It may even move them out the experience range as well. This trick works well early game, and works even better when the opponent knows that you have leveled up suicide, and aren't afraid to use it."

Like Russell Peters would say, "I'll do it! I'll do it! Hah, you flinched you bastard!"

You can use this to deny a kill by suiciding when you have about a quarter HP and you know death is near. Otherwise, just play safe. Gold will be deducted when suiciding and the enemy will not gain experience. A spree will also continue.

Another thing to know is that it is possible to auto activate suicide. I recommend however, you do not use it unless you know what you're doing! When auto cast is activated, whoever you attack or "click on" will be the designated target for a suicide. Therefore if you need to use it quickly, like when Tiny is tossing you like a grenade, you may want to auto cast it so you can just click on the enemy.

This skill can destroy trees If you are trapped in by Furion's sprout with an ally, Sacrifice yourself, it's probably for a better good!

Skill # 4 ULTIMATE - Remote Mines

Plants an invisible mine that will only activate when triggered. Doesn't damage buildings. Lasts 8 minutes.
Level 1 - Deals 300 damage when activated.
Level 2 - Deals 450 damage when activated.
Level 3 - Deals 600 damage when activated.
Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Area of Effect: 425/435/450
Mana Cost:200/240/300
Cast Time: 3 seconds.

Authors Say:
Remote mines is your signature move. Always cluster them close together for a colossal effect. Unlike land mines, as long as this mine is in AoE of the enemy, it will cause full damage, regardless as if it were centered or not.

Remote Mines deal magic damage only, not a mix of both armour and magic. Remember that all heroes have a natural 25% spell resistance. Thus, heroes will take less damage from Remote mines. A Hood of Defiance will also reduce damage from this skill, a notable counter. Creeps however, take full damage. You don't know how many games I've played where The Goblin Techies player complains how 3 level one remote mines did not kill an 800 HP opponent. Also take in account that Linkin's Sphere does not block this skill, but spell immunity does block this.

I've also noted that if you want to detonate a cluster of mines that are of different level, you must go through this procedure one level at a time. The reason is because of the Warcraft engine classifies the level 1,2,3 remote mines as different units. If you've selected all the mines, remember to tab through, or press ignite multiple times. You could use the detonate button too, but it'll ignite every remote mine on the map.

Try to detonate these mines close to the area of the Techies so you can gain the experience or finish him off with a couple hits. As the mines level up, the AoE increases. You can also use Remote mines as observer wards. A very effective trick, making observer wards unnecessary for your team. The casting range on this skill is 500, which gives you a large space to plant mines from your position.

Skill # 4 -EXTRA- Detonate

Detonates all Remote Mines.
Level 6+ - N/A
Cooldown: .5 of a second
Area of Effect: Everywhere.

Authors Say:
Basically, all it does is detonate all your remote mines. The animation leaves a scorch, it can prove to be a big use tactic-wise. When you click the detonate button, it appears as if you planted a mine. Using this to fake planted mine areas to scare your enemy works well. Don't spam this because then it's pretty obvious that this is a trick! Note: if you have remote mines do not press it because they'll be set to blow.


Indepth Walkthrough
This will teach you how to play properly as the Goblin Techies. However, I must stress that an item build or a skill build is never perfected. They're situations where a level one suicide won't cut it, or sentry wards are needed throughout the entire game. Feel free to optimize the build on the fly. Never expect a perfect game. Here are some over-head tips that you should remember all the time when playing.

•*Kills aren't Everything*

This is the number one thing you have to understand when playing The Techies. Players believe planting hundreds of mines and performing mass suicide early in the game will bring their team to succession. When players spend prolonged times planting mines and going ape-shit with their suicides, late in the game they will realize they are fucked. A gem or wards will screw up this game style mid-game (if you're up against any decent players), suicides will not be sufficient for gold when mid game begins, and you will aggravate the enemy so much they will actually stick on your ass like dry shit. To be successful as a Techie's player you must understand, "omg 12-0" does not at all suggest your playing ability. Often, but not all the time, a high score can just mean this player is just off mining all game, rarely leaving base, at a level of possibly 6 by end game.

•Active Play

Most players cater toward passive play (similar to above), but I think to be useful late game, you must learn how and utilize landmines and remote mines as nukes. They are a devastating AoE nuke that can throw off enemies easily.

•Patience is key, but only in your lane

Planting mines in your lane is the most essential thing to survival. However, spending 10 minutes out of your lane planting mines in the jungle is foolish. The plan is to plant a mine, then regroup with your creeps to gain experience. Weave in and out but never go too far from your lane.

•Anticipate your opponent's moves

Learning your enemy's moves will allow you to pick up there play style. Are they a hardcore ganker? Then don't allow them to leave their lane. Plant stasis mines or push hard. Are they a passive last hitter? Then harass them. Learn there favourite standing points when creeps come, it just may come in handy when choosing where to position your remote mines. Take a look at this short comic strip:


•There is no I in team

Save allies whenever possible. Light off the remote mines, even if its just one. The enemy will think there are more ahead and will flee.

•Do inventory checks

Always Check the enemy when he returns to your lane or if it's a new one. Likely he will be carrying sentry wards or even a gem. Later you will learn how to counter gem carriers and sentry wards.

The Build

Level 1 Land Mines
Level 2 Suicide
Level 3 Land Mines
Level 4 Suicide
Level 5 Land Mines
Level 6 Remote Mines
Level 7 Land Mines
Level 8 Stasis Trap
Level 9 Stasis Trap
Level 10 Stasis Trap
Level 11 Remote Mines
Level 12 Stasis Trap
Level 13 Stats
Level 14 Stats
Level 15 Stats
Level 16 Remote Mines
Level 17-23 Stats
Level 24 Suicide
Level 25 Suicide

I think the reasoning for this build is pretty straight forward. The only thing that most players are probably eye balling is the change between suicide to stasis. I've said it, and I'll say it again: Late game suicide just isn't as effective when enemies are beefed up on armour and health. The mana cost for a level 4 suicide hits up to 175, which is quite high for a last resort. Stasis is a much more effective alternative. That said-- everything else is pretty much laid out to ya.

Initial Build


Looks reasonable doesn't it? The tangos is there for any early harassment, 5 clarities is more than enough to last you till you can build up bottle (which will pretty much be an infinite source because of rune watching with mines), and the courier can bring you any required items (boots for a first blood if its late).

Core Build


Boots of Speed is important because the Goblin Techies is the slowest hero in the game, and at the price, it'd just be a no brainer to buy. I used to advocate BoT/Treads, but decided that the benefits of the two just aren't worth the gold this early in the game. Bottle will be of use all game because of its ability to bottle runes, since its so traditional to use landmines to view runes, and then possibly bottle them to use them for a early first blood, or even just a bottle refill. You will always want to carry a TP with you, and wards to counter other enemy wards.

Where to go from here. . .

Basically, you're going to have 3 choices-- Guinsoo, Necrobook, Or Orchid. The Goblin Techies is a very situational hero, Which calls for different item setups. I've seriously gotten headaches trying to perfect a build-- which isn't really possible with one definitive item build, so again-- here's 3 to choose from.

Guinsoo Scythe of Vyse
_______________________
5675 | Purchase Order: Void Stone ($875), Mystic Staff ($2700), Ultimate Orb ($2100)

• +200% Mana Regeneration
• +35 Intelligence
• +10 Agility
• +10 Strength
• Hex for 3.5 seconds {Cooldown: 20 seconds}

This is an ideal item when all is going great, and your farming is adequate. The regen and hex is key for this item whilst the stats are a bonus.

Necronomicon 3
_______________________

5350 | Purchase Order: Staff of Wizardry ($1000), Belt of Giant Strength ($450), Recipes X3 ($3900)

• +14 Strength
• +24 Intelligence
• Summon 2 Necro Fighters {Cooldown: 60 seconds}

Skills of Necros
Archer
• Endurance Aura: Increases nearby friendly unit's movement speed by 9% and attack rate by 9%
• Mana Burn: Burns 225 mana from target unit
• Last Will: Deals 600 damage to the unit that kills it
  Warrior:
• Necronomicon Mana Break: Burns away 75 mana per attack
• Last Will Level 3: Deals 600 damage to the unit that kills it
• True Sight: Reveals nearby invisible units

You'll want this item when you need to swap for wards, allowing for tough pushing (aura is real good for that), or mop up with a well placed stasis mine with mana burn. And again, stats are just a plus.


Orchid Malevolence
_______________________
5025 | Purchase Order: 2 Sobi Masks ($650), Robe of the Magi ($450), Quarter Staff ($900), Robe Of the Magi ($450), Quarter Staff ($900) , Oblivion Staff ($1675)

• +225% Mana Regeneration
• +20 Intelligence
• +40 Damage
• +40% Attack Speed
• Soul Burn 5 seconds, which Amplifies damage by 20% and silences {Cooldown: 25 seconds}

Keywords: nukes and escapees. Because this is such a great disable and team amplifier, or even for you're own mines. This item is great when it comes to blinkers or anything that can fly away (leap comes to mind). Don't forget, the regeneration is very useful and the intellect bonus and damage shouldn't be neglected (my god, it actually can help you hit something!). The only real con I can think of is building this up. It takes a bunch of inventory space, so remember to use your courier.

Although most games you'll probably only run through the need of only one of these items, if it prolongs you can build any other item you deem fit.

Viable Items

Boots of Travel
Late game choice of footwear. Pushing and defending will occur often, and this item should be chosen after the core for obvious reasons.

Euls Scepter of Divinity
This item can be built straight after BoT, or even after the above. You can build this if you need a cheap disable, along with orchid, or necrobook.

Shiva's Guard
A great AoE slow, and support item. You can stay behind the team to provide stasis while pushing, and get nice and close while utilizing mines as nukes, and slow the enemies attack. Of course, the stats aren't to be neglected.

Rejected Items

Void StoneX6
Yes, I've seen this more than twice and Techies isn't all about mines. He can be awesome as offense and simply great for back dooring. Not only this, but this build gives you no escape mechanism. I'm tired of people suggesting me to "try" this build while playing, because "regen" and what this hero is "all about". If a hero comes along with one disable, silence, or nuke, you're fucked. With the build I have suggested, you will have multiple strengths, and fewer weaknesses. Please, don't suggest this anymore. If I get anymore suggestions on using this build, I'm going to ignore it because frankly, I'm tired of it.

arcane provides 110 mp every 33 seconds: 3.33mana/second

most heroes have base mana regen of .01/second but techies has .02/second. each point of intelligence adds .04/second. euls doubles mana regen (100% increase). our techies' mana regen is therefore represented by 2[.02+.04x] or .04+.08x, where x is intelligence.

.04+.08x=3.33

solve for x to get 41.125 intelligence, the point at which euls' regen becomes greater than arcane's. since eul adds 18 int, we need 24 int minimum to make euls better. as techies will always have this, euls is clearly the choice for him.

First off, I'd like to thank mjmetro for the above information. Although I no longer rush Euls as a core item, Euls is a much better choice than Arcane (even if you have an AoE mana replenisher).

The Suicide Item Build
Quoted to show in fine ink how stupid this build is. Goblin Techie's players are fond of this build, scoring firstblood, kills, and loot through early to middle game. These items are often chosen to create what foolish players believe, the ultimate Goblin Techies.
Blood Stone
At one point, this item had it's own build and it was included with what I called, the Blood techies. However, time has passed and After further review and use of this item, I've decided to remove it and add it to this list. It remained in my guide, even after I listed all the bad and complicated things it had. Here's a quote from my own guide in older versions.

When the Goblin Techies use suicide with a Blood Stone, he will gain the kill, and any exp. However,you will still lose gold and respawn as if you had no charges. You also only gain 1 charge, instead of the usual 2. So its pretty much a wasted charge. Any kills after that with a suicide will be canceled out. This is because you will only gain 1 charge for a kill, and you lose 1 charge for a death. Remote mines and Land mine kills will not work towards giving you charges either.

I don't know if the above is as correct as I want to be, as I heard of some fixes of Bloodstone, and I'm outdated on this item, since I rarely use it.

Blink Dagger
Although this item gives The Goblin Techies an escape device, this item will poorly synchronize with any other skill. Also note this item will mystify a players judgment for him to become a full bred Suicidal Techies. Stasis traps are a much better alternative to an escape device. It will freeze enemies for 6 seconds. Not only this, but with the update of the Dagger, it's been nerfed hard, and using it to engage in combat is mind numbing as of why you would do that, and using it to escape is even harder. You can apply what I just said to Lothar's Edge too. These items are garbage to this hero.

Playing Early Game
Do not try to get a first blood as soon as you get to your lane however, more so at level 3 or 4. Laning with an ally disabler is the best and recommended way to score it. Never solo. Early in the game, you will be obliterated if you lane by yourself (also noting that you should not pick Techies on a 3v3. You will seriously let your team down).

As you approach your lane, use your landmine and start a small bundle of traps. Two or three are sufficient.
You can also plant in the top river if you know the exact position (you can find out how later). Harass with landmines, doing so properly is described later in the guide. I feel there is no perfect strat to start the game but all on situation. However, after level 5 you should be focusing on laying mines to farm. Although if you repeat this tactic, be aware that enemy heroes will be attacking you when your going in for the plant.


The Goblin Mine deals different damage at different levels. Knowing this obvious fact will help you farm. Use this diagram as a reference as of when to lay a mine in a creep wave. Notice that most of the creeps will target one creep in particular. Do not focus fire at that creep, focus fire at another until all or most creeps reach the stated health for the mine level. Mines will go off approximately 2 seconds after planting, giving you some more time to balance the creep's health. I'd recommend you switch health bars to stay on in the gameplay options.

To counter this problem, make them fear you. If you haven't already, suicide and kill them. Now when you go in for a plant sometimes run past the creeps towards an enemy hero giving them the idea you are going to suicide but as a matter of fact, you retreat and plant a mine between the creeps. Basically, this is called a feint, a tactic explained earlier.

Plant mines and suicide if needed during enemy pushes but don't be a fool and rush in to a group with full HP because you'll probably be nuked or stunned by the time you've reach your targeted suicide area.(unless they lag, then you're in luck!). Its always better to suicide when an ally is around, just so he can either finish him off or gain your experience. If you are ever to plan this, use an AoE stun (forget this part if you are sure of a kill) and then plant a landmine and then suicide.

As I said before, never wander away from your lane early in the game. The first mistake Goblin Techie players make is drawing themselves further away from there lane early in the game, or just never coming back to level.


Playing Mid Game
Try your best to be in all lanes with mines and at the same time maintain your ability to farm levels and gold. At this point of the game you should take the liberty of farming. When farming creeps, use your landmines and finish any off.

On a side note, level 3 Remote mines at can take out creep waves in one blow. This can only work under the 45 minute timer. This is because every 15 minutes, creeps gain 10 more health points.

Anticipate ganks and don't travel too far without your team or creep block near your tower until enemy creeps arrives. After you clear creep waves, place a remote mine or stasis trap around -- sort of a checkpoint just in case you or your team gets ambushed. You can also creep pull if things get bad. When moving, always be on the opposite side of the forest. Even though you have the ability to teleport, you are still fragile to stuns and silences.

The Goblin Techies are awesome for those rumbles. The first thing to do is plant a stasis trap. Using a remote mine & land mine for a nuke is devastating.


Playing Late Game
Mines are key late game, place them everywhere and at every corner. Although this is one of the reasons why people bitch and whine about the Goblin Techies, you're notorious for slowing a game down. This will give your team enough time to counter push.

When the enemy is pushing hard, kill their creeps. Without creeps, they will discontinue the push. Its sort of like a mind trick, or even to scare pubbies into thinking they're "backdooring" (which you shouldn't worry about).

During a push, plant mines in the general area of enemy creeps and you should be able to take a creep wave out fairly quick. In defense, plant mines in more unpredictable areas so you can have the element of surprise. Laying landmines near buildings do a ton of damage. Don't be afraid to do it to the enemy's barracks.

Enemies with a gem are still killable with mines. Use elevation to your advantage. Gems do not view over higher elevation! So mine above ramps because by the time they see the mines, they'll probably trigger them, again giving you the jump of surprise. This is a very important trick to kill gem carriers!

{Image Heroes} If you've played as Techies before, you know how frustrating it can be to burn 5 Remote Mines on an image. Heroes like PL, Silithice and Terrorblade can make it difficult for Techies to decide when and where to detonate their mines. Regular mines can be cleared by simply sending the image into their vicinity, and this applies to Stasis Traps as well. -Contributed by peter_tobbermon
Items:
{Gem} Techies is nothing without his invisible mines and traps. While it helps to avoid damage on Melee heroes, they really can't do anything to get rid of the hazards. Thus, ranged heroes make better use of the item as they can destroy the mines and traps without consequence.
{Sentry Wards} Especially early game, these wards will make it much easier to lane against him. Through last-hitting and denying, try to keep the combat location of the creeps in range of your ward so that one ward at a time will suffice.
{Necronomicon} An item that grants vision of mines, extra health to survive them, and mana burn? Sounds like a custom tailored-item against Techies. Not all, but many heroes can use this much more effectively than a Gem or Wards so consider it an option. -Contributed by Dky

Mining Areas and Tactics
They're are many mining areas but without proper knowledge, mining areas are useless. We'll go over the tactics first.

Minde Games
This is a hero that relies alot on how the player plays, not just skills and items. Utilizing tricks such as jukes (which are common on all heroes), mine tricks, and even health bar confusion, can help defeat an enemy.

The Mine Scare
Ever wanted an enemy to be restricted from running from your lanes to gank others? You can use mines to trap enemies, by showing in plain sight where you are planting. This will make them play way more cautious, and the will to leave a lane will lower significantly.

Fake Mine Amount
I honestly couldn't think of a better name, but basically, it means lighting 2 mines off, making the enemy think you have no more. After they are engaging in a tower push and they retreat with some damage, you can ignite another 3 to kill off runners. I think this is effective with picking out enemies (especially dps which usually sit back far behind).

Active Mine Runner
Use mines as nukes and traps when running, even when you are running into a bunch of trees. You can place stasis and landmines, then TP away.

Luring Enemies into Landmines/Remote Mines
The trick is to make the enemy think s/he is going to win the fight Throw a couple of mistakes at him, or allow him to hit you before you try to flee with low health.

In this example, I lured Drow into two of mines (the red area was her original encounter with the mines). Her health is very low and I run in the direction of the arrow, so she has to run forward and to the right. This all happened so fast she was unable to realize her health was almost all gone and she continued to chase.

Defending Towers
When your enemy is pushing, place mines to the side of your tower. This is because when creeps gather around your tower to attack, when the third or fourth creep reaches it, the mine will go off. If you place it in front of the base, your mine will only detonate outside the range of all the creeps.

Pushing Towers:
To take down a tower real fast, lay a land mine right beside the tower. Because the land mine causes physical damage (Remote mines do magic) it'll do about 250 damage to the tower at level 4. Here's a quick chart on tower damage.
Level One: 144
Level Two: 192
Level Three: 240
Level Four: 288

This information varies on level 3 and 4 towers-- as the calculations was taken with towers with 18 armour.

Harassing enemies near towers
Enemies can be hard to get to when they are tower hugging, but the Goblin techies can make easy meat of these enemies. Take a look at this:

Mining Roshan
Mining Roshan is for the vision, not the damage. Use either stasis or a remote mine to view Roshan's area. Whats unique about this is that observer wards cannot view his cave!

Mining Their SS Shop
This is a common move I've seen this I began playing DotA. Just place many land mines in their SS shop and wait for someone to walk in.

Mining Neutral Creeps
You can mine right outside the camp, usually with remote mines to pick off enemies who are trying to farm in the forest. I found this to be very effective after a player showed me this tactic in a replay.

Mining Behind Towers
This tactic provides you vision behind towers, making it very useful for a player like Pudge, PotM and even you too. All you got to do is plant a mine behind an enemy tower-- far enough so that it is out of the tower's true sight. This will give you vision behind the tower.

Now that you know the basics, lets go over actual mining areas. First I'd like to thank SirFootin, or better known as Ironfisto for this map.

Legend:
Green = Good mining Area
Blue = Gem killer areas
Yellow = Scouting spots
The green areas are great areas to mine because they are effective to defend and maintain lane control. By maintaining, I mean preventing ganks and such. Blue areas can kill gem carriers, described above. Yellow areas main purpose is to scout (using remote mine/stasis appropriately to location.). There are many more areas, but these are key.

Why some mine areas are better than others
The reason why some areas are better than others is because of the way the creeps move. DotA's mechanic as of how the creeps move will always remain the same. With experience, you will learn where creeps will correspond, and where mines will be best placed to hit heroes.

The red line is the creeps moving path. Often, we'll only want heroes to step in our mines, and that's when the areas around the red line are better. Also remember when creeps clash with others, they will spread and disperse. So be sure to keep mines out of there "splash" range.

Learn how the creeps move and you can master what areas are best for mining in lanes. This allows you to be more versatile than the typical "this is a good spot". Instead of being taught which are good spots, you can now spot which ones are on your own.

Lane Control
If you aren't going to go middle, top for Sentinel, bottom for Scourge works well. Although you are known for holding yourself in a lane, early in the game this fairly hard to do, especially defending the tower. Harass if they have no ring/regen or if they're going in for some last hits on creeps. It's difficult to do with your low damage output but possible. Once you have reached level 3 land mines place them in for ambushes or restrict them from moving by allowing them to see where they are. Stasis are also key for lane control.

Runes and their Usefulness
Well we all know runes as items that can power you up in different ways. But with the Goblin Techies, it can be used in a different way too. Baiting.
When using runes to bait, try to use land mines. It'll be hard to catch a scurrying hero at the exact moment of him picking up the rune. Remember runes come every 2 minutes. You can read more about runes at this guide, also teaching you how to get two runes at once. Land mines should be placed in a very close position, and on both sides. He could pick up the rune, such as a regeneration, and it be wasted because he'll trample over your mines seconds later. Early game 4 landmines should be all it takes.

You can also use remote mines as observer wards. This can be done with stasis (less mana) but remember to plant it where heroes are less likely to go. Say, just a bit above the rune itself.

This is how to pinpoint the exact location of the runes-- using landmarks around the rune to help guide you.


Again, you can use remotes and stasis to observe this position.

Bottle can bring us long ways. empty out a bottle and fill yourself if you're low on hp, then grab the rune and use it for a full bottle! Just remember, that it'll be auto casted after 2 minutes, so keep an estimated count in your head. We don't want a single rune to go to waste. Your using it both ways. To use, or to bait. Also remember if you capture a rune with a bottle. Your bottle will be automatically refilled to the top. A trick is to use all the charges in your bottle, then capture it. Use the rune, then you'll have a a full bottle. Since you have remote mines on the two rune areas, you'll have pretty much an infinite supply and know-abouts where and what kind of runes, spawn.

Double Damage: Give this rune up to an ally or use it as bait. This is one of the least useful runes to you, unlike to other heroes. One of the reasons as of why this is such great bait.

Invisibility: The best first blood rune. You can get a close up of the enemy and wait until your ally gets into position and grab your first blood.

Illusion: Not bad, a toned down version of invisibility. It may be harder to micro for a suicide, but the enemy will be wasting their spells on your copy if done well. Many players are eager to fire their Laguna or Dagon at ya' because you're "vulnerable".

Haste: Who ever knew so many runes could synchronize with suicide? This one will let you zoom to your enemy so fast hes probably hoping you'll mis-click!

Regen: This rune is possibly the best one you can get. It allows you to plant as many mines as you want until the duration of regen is out. This is because regen will only be deactivated if the Techies is damaged.

Dealing With . . .
Maybe you've come here to find out how to counter the Goblin Techies. If you were looking for that, I'll tell you some tips. This is from ECKs0's Hero Counter Guide

I'd like to add two other ways to counter the Goblin Techies. Because early in the game, suicides occur often, hiding in the trees is a great way to avoid full damage from the techies. It's very difficult to click on the the enemy and he will likely hit a tree, allowing you to take minimal damage from the suicide.


Other ways include purchasing a Hood of Defiance, to reduce damage from Remote mines and some from landmines (not as much, because landmines takes in account both armor and magic resistance).


Note-Worthy Enemies
Because I like to generalize, I'll categorize the enemies you should look out for.

Mana Burners

any hero that can mana burn with items or skills, will be a pain in the ass for you. Especially early. When you encounter someone such as Anti-Mage, use all your mana as soon possible. If possible try to get a suicide in there before he can kill you.
Silencers

Silencers are trouble for an obvious reason. Without your spells, your nothing. Your damage output is little to nothing, I recommend planting mines before hand, since you are able to use them if there already planted.

Good Allies
Any disabler can be a good ally to the Goblin Techies, so I'll mention the more unique ones!

Position Shifters

Position changers are awesome because they can move enemies into your land mines/remote mines. Not only this but its actually very easy to time.
Pudge

Pudge can be a daring enemy, but also an awesome ally! His hooks and your mines will prove to be devastating.
Treant Protector

Almost forgot about him. The one I forgot about happens to be one of the best allies for the Goblin Techies. All his skills synchronize very well with Techies. for one, the eyes on the trees will prevent warding early in the game. two, Living armor will allow him to take minimum damage while going in for a suicide. Three, Natures Guise is litterly a surprise attack from the trees (suicide!) And four, The ultimate AoE stun able to pin down your enemy for a perfect suicide.
Tiny

Tiny is a great ally because he can toss you towards an enemy for a hand Grenade! Enabling Auto Attack on Suicide should be done for a perfected one.


Conclusion

If you got any other questions, just ask! Try to comment please! It just helps me improve the guide much easier than me having to re read everything. I do my best to answer all my posts in a quick manner (usually 3-5 days!). I take in all input to try and make the guide even better. The community has already helped a bunch! I'd appreciate it if I got a lot less "I play my techies this way", and more reasons why you think your build is better than mine.

Although I am not as much as an enthusiast as I used to be when writing this guide, my busy times updating this guide brings to play nearly every day, but otherwise, you can spot me casually playing public games, 3-4 times a week.

Replays
Removed, because it doesn't fit my item build because of updates. Working on getting a new one asap.