Guide to Roshan - Dota Allstars Guide

Denny Crane's Guide to Roshan

Table of Contents

­

• Introduction
• Roshan
• Skills
• Bounty
• History
• Roshan’s AI
• Using Roshan’s AI to kill Roshan
• Soloing Roshan
• Level 1 Roshan
• Final Word
• Change Log
  

Introduction

One day I was reading a topic about Roshan on DA’s strategy section. There was a lot of disinformation so I started so search for information about Roshan to post there.

First I searched in newbies guides but they only said that Roshan was a neutral creep who spawns under scourge main tower and drops an Aegis if he is killed. Then I searched on Wiki, but Wiki doesn't have strategy on it, only information about his stats and abilities. Then I found an article about Roshan, but it treated about Roshan’s impact on competitive play.

After like half hour searching I couldnt find what I was looking for so it came to me the idea of creating this guide… and here it is, my Guide to Roshan.

Roshan

Roshan the Immortal is a powerful neutral creep. He spawns in a trench off of the central river, just southeast of the scourge main tower. Every time he dies, re spawns 10 minutes later.

Unit Type: Ancient
Movespeed: 320
Sight Range: 1400 / 1400

Gold Bounty: 105 – 600, 200 gold to the entire team, Aegis of the Immortal and Cheese (after the third spawn)
Experience Given: 1184

Hit Points: 7500 + 20/sec (Increases by 500 for every 5 minutes that the game progresses)
Base Armor: 3 (Heavy)
EHP: 11700 (Starting)
Mana: 2000 + 10/sec

Base Damage: 65 - 65 (Chaos) (increases by 10 for every 5 minutes that the game progresses)
Attack Range: 100 (melee)
Attack Animation: 0.3 / 0.3
Base Attack Time: 1
Missile Speed: Instant
Casting Animation: 0.47 / 0.56

Skills

Bash

Gives 15% chance that an attack will deal 50 bonus damage and stun 1.65 Seconds.

Spell Block

Block incoming spells every 15 seconds.This is preaty much a Linken's Sphere.

Slam

Slams the ground, dealing 70 Damage damage to nearby units in a 250 AoE and slowing them for 50% IAS and MS. Last 4 seconds on Creeps and 2 seconds on Heroes.

Resistant Skin

A unit with this skill gains the benefit from being a hero (reduces incoming Spells damage by 25%, cannot be transmuted, cannot be dominated and the duration of spells like Cyclone is reduced to be similar to the duration of the spell when the target is a hero).

Roshan Upgraded

At the start of the game, Roshan begins with a 0.5 armor Devotion Aura. Every 5 minutes, Roshan Upgraded gains a level and this Devotion Aura gains another 0.5 armor. Roshan also increases his maximum Hit Points by 500 and his ground damage increases by 10.

Reflect Damage

Reflects 20% damage back to melee units attacking it.
Note: Available at 4th respawn onwards.

Anti-Illusion Device

Illusions are unable to attack Roshan. All illusions are instantly destroyed.

Anti-Necronomicon Device

Necronomicon's warriors can't attack Roshan. Roshan will ignore them.

Bounty

Killing Roshan will give you/your team 5 things:

1) Between 105 and 600 gold for the killer.

2) 200 gold to the entire team.

3) 1184 experience: Experience is given in a 1000 AoE from the unit that was killed. In -EM this value is multiplied by 1.5.

4) Aegis of the Immortal: An item with 1 charge of reincarnation.

5) Cheese (after the third spawn): A consumable item regenerating 2500 health and 1000 mana instantly.

History

Roshan appeared for the first time in DotA Allstars 4.00 (during Guinsoo’s reign) reemplacing Morbazan, Eldritch of Oblivion, a hero in the middle of the map related to a quest (like Invoker's quest from DotA Allstars 6.49). He was a boss that never respawned, had 14.500 hit points (nerfed into 13.500 some versions later), very high damage, and very high life regeneration.

The original Aegis of the Immortal item was an ordinary recipe item giving 10 armor, 6 strength, 6 intelligence and 33% spell damage reduction for 3075 gold. Some versions later it was buffed and provided 3 charges of reincarnation, 10 bonus armour, and 35% spell damage reduction. The very old Aegis wasnt associated with Roshan. The old Aegis was associated with Roshan through description.

Roshan was usually never fought, since the 500 gold bonus per team member (buffed into 800 gold some versions later) from the kill was usually not worth the extremely long fight that the entire team would have to do to defeat the powerful old Roshan.

In 6.42 (during IceFrog’s regin), Roshan was changed to a respawning Roshan that got stronger on each reincarnation, and the Aegis was integrated into the Roshan concept as a Roshan drop item with nothing but 1 charge of reincarnation, thus fixing the pointlessness of killing Roshan.

In v6.55, Roshan has been changed again to a constantly upgrading Roshan with an Aegis that cannot be stacked and Hurl Boulder (deals 100 damage and stuns for 2 seconds) was removed for Bash. This is a very big nerf to every hero who was able to solo Roshan at early levels because Roshan would have 1500/2000 more HP than before and because Bash is a letal skill for Beastmaster or Ursa (for example) when they try to solo Roshan. This is also a nerf to Aegis because Roshan reclaims the Aegis when he respawn and the Aegis cannot be removed from the inventory.

From time to time existed some bugs that allowed some heroes to solo Roshan in early levels without items. Some examples are Axe in the DotA Allstars 6.00 (there was a bug with Berserker's Call which allowed the player to bring Roshan to the fountain), Venomancer before DotA Allstars 6.48b (there was a bug were you could place Plague Wards outside Roshan’s range) and Lina during DotA Allstars 6.55 (there was a bug involving Lina’s Dragon Slave which would draw Roshan’s aggro allowing any hero to attack Roshan whitout been attacked).

Roshan’s AI

* Roshans acts by priority states: The higher priority action is returning to his spawn point if he is issued a retreat order (when he is below 50% HP and nobody is in melee range).

* The second higher priority is always attempt to attack a red HP target (20-30%) that is in his melee range.

* When there are three or more units attacking Roshan at melee range, it will trigger Roshan to cast Slam.

* Like any other neutral creep he will chase things for 600 range, then 3 more seconds and then will make a U turn and go back to his spawn point.

Using Roshan’s AI to kill Roshan

This is no longer possible since 6.58 because IceFrog changed Roshan and now he can attack while he spins. I will leave this here as along as 6.57b is the sable map.

Roshans acts by priority states. The higher priority action is returning to his spawn point if he is issued a retreat order. The second higher priority is always attempt to attack a red HP target (20-30%) that is in his melee range.

I will explain how this strat works with my l33t MS Paint skills:

On theory, If Unit A is between 0 and 25 % HP Roshan will attack it. Roshan wont do anything other than attacking him unless the said Random Unit A leaves the area (triggering Roshan’s higher priority action) or if his HP is not longer less than 25%. It doesnt matters if Unit A or B are attacking Roshan.

So the strat is simple to understand but hard to accomplish. If Unit A runs arround Roshan, he will make Roshan spin and Roshan cant attack while he is spinning. You can run faster than Roshan’s spin because Roshan has an epic collision size, so you can make Roshan spin indefinitely as along you remain under 25% HP on Roshan’s melee range. And now is where Unit B comes in action: he can attack Roshan without been attacked.

You need at last 2 units (not 2 heroes, just 2 units) and 2 players. In order to make Roshan spin indefinitely you need at last 160 APM and if you are microing the Unit A you will not be able to select the Unit B and send him to attack Roshan unless your APM is very good (in that case you can do it with only 1 player).

Another important thing is what kind of units are you using. Syllabear’s Bear is probably the best candidate for Unit A’s role: 25% of his HP is a lot, also he can die and game wont change and if he is the Unit A, Sylla can be either be Unit B or help Unit B. Unit B needs one and only one thing: he needs to kill Roshan fast. Less time means more profit (time on DotA is gold and experience).

I made this Replay in a single player mode. It shows Sylla’s Bear making Roshan spin for a while.

This is a Link to an Australian Roshan tournament. This is the Link to the Results. You can see two replays of Lycanthrope using this technique to solo Roshan. Props to m1LkmaN for the information.

Soloing Roshan

Every hero can Solo Roshan with enought levels and/or items. However, some heroes can solo Roshan sooner than others. Recently, this heroes received two nerfs:
• Roshan’s early game preformance has been increased thanks to Roshan Upgraded.
• The harmless Hurl Boulder has been changed for the letal Bash.

I will list most of heroes that can Solo Roshan in early levels. When you are facing them spam –ma and check their inventory whenever you can. When you see they can Solo Roshan place wards on Roshan’s spawn area.

I listed the needed skills and items. However, they may need Flasks or Claritys because Roshan’s Bash is gay, in a non homosexual way.

Lycanthrope

Needs: Level 4 Summon Wolves, Level 4 Feral Heart and Vladmir's Offering.
Example: Replay

Venomancer

Needs: Level 4 Plague Ward.
Example: Replay

Invoker

Needs: Level 10 with the Q-E build and Void Stone
Example: Replay

Furion

Needs: Level 4 Force of Nature, Power Treads and some sort of regeneration.
Example: Props to Memnarch406 for the Replay and Props to aussiefanboy for the Replay

Chen

Needs: Level 4 Holy Persuasion (Centaur, Wolf and Ghost), Level 2 Penitence, Level 1 Hand of God and some auras (Headdress of Rejuvenation, Nathrezim Buckler, Ring of Basilius).
Example: Props to Memnarch406 for the Replay

Broodmother

Needs: Level 4 Spawn Spiderlings, Level 4 Incapacitating Bite, Level 1 Spin Web, Level 2 Insatiable Hunger and Vladmir's Offering.
Example: Replay

Ursa

Needs: Level 4 Fury Swipes, Level 2 Overpower, Level 1 Enrage and Vladmir's Offering.
Example: Replay

Lanaya

Needs: Level 4 Refraction, Level 4 Meld and Desolator. Some levels on Psi Blades makes things easier but they are not a must.
Example: Replay

Beastmaster

Needs: Level 4 Beast Rage, Power Treads and Helm of the Dominator (dominated Ogre Magi, Ghost or Alpha Wolf).
Example: Replay

Meepo

Needs: Level 2 Divide We Stand, Mekansm and Power Treads.
Example: Replay

Troll

Needs: Level 4 Blind, Level 3 Berserker Rage, Level 1 Rampage, Power Treads and Helm of the Dominator (dominated Ogre Magi, Ghost or Alpha Wolf).
Example: Replay

Old Dirge (This is no longer possible since 6.58, I will leave this here as along as 6.57b is the sable map)

Needs: Level 4 Raise Dead and Vladmir's Offering.
Example: Replay

Level 1 Roshan

This is a very unusual strat. You need an specific team to do this and it can be countered. The idea would be killing Roshan before creeps spawns (2:00 min mark). Players needs arround 1 minute to choose the hero, buy the items and arrive to Roshan’s spawn region so in order to Level 1 Roshan you need:
• A team that will live long enought while fighting Roshan for at last 1 minute.
• A team that can kill Roshan in less than 1 minute.

To live for at last 1 minute you can:
• Use micro.
• Use tanks.
• Use healers.
• Debuff Roshan’s attack (for example, with Miss Change, –IAS skills, etc).
• Dont use more than 2 melee units so you dont trigger Slam.

To kill Roshan in less than 1 minute you can:
• Use Heroes that haves some ability to kill Roshan fast.
• Reducing Roshan’s EHP (for example, amplifying your team’s attack, reducing Roshan’s armor, etc).

This strat haves two very big problems: First, depending on the lineup it can be very predictable (for example Sylla – Lich – Dazzle – Venom – Ursa exclaims Roshan all over it). Second, Roshan’s spawn region is a very transited area (because a Rune spawn over there). If a team knows the other team is fighting Roshan a team fight will happen. Because of this, Level 1 Roshan is a very gambling strat usually considered a fun strat. However, if teams go inside Roshan’s spawn region fast and if they dont choose a predictable lineup they can succeed.

For example, “ Rikimaru – Vengeful Spirit – Lich – Dazzle – Beastmaster “ is not weird lineup and it does not exclaim ROSHAN all over it. The keys to succeed are speed and discretion.

There are several combinations which can accomplish this. You can try them by yourself in single player mode. I listed most of the heroes that have some ability to give your team more time or damage Roshan a lot.

Tanks

By tanking I mean something that can resist Roshan’s attack giving your team more time to fight.

Syllabear

Summon Spirit Bear

180 seconds colddown - Summons Spirit Bear with 1400 hit points, 2 HP regeneration per second and 3 Armor

Furion

Force of Nature

60 seconds duration - 37 seconds colddown - 160 mana (273 starting mana) - Summons 2 Treants with 550 hit points, 0.5 HP regeneration per second and 0 Armor

Lich

Frost Armor

40 seconds duration - 5 seconds colddown - 25 mana (273 starting mana) - Adds 3 armor and slows melee attackers'attack speed by 20%.

Healers

Healing your team’s hit points gives them more time to finish Roshan. I listed all the viable ones, however, some of them are better than others.

Yurnero

Healing Ward

25 seconds duration - 75 seconds colddown - 140 mana (182 starting mana) - Heals 1% of hit points per second

Dazzle

Shadow Wave

12 seconds colddown - 80 mana (351 starting mana) - Dissipates 80 damage, 3 targets

Omniknight

Purification

12 seconds colddown - 100 mana (221 starting mana) - Heals / Damages 90 hit points

Necrolyte

Death Pulse

8 seconds colddown - 125 mana (286 starting mana) - 75 damage/50 heal

Enchantress

Nature's Attendants

10 seconds duration - 125 mana (208 starting mana) - Heals 300 HP over 10 seconds in the 300 AoE.

Warlock

Shadow Word

8 seconds duration - 24 seconds colddown - 90 mana (321 starting mana) - Heals 10 hit points per second

Miss Chance

Miss is in fact a debuff that gives the attacker a chance to miss an attack, thus making the attacked unit dodge the attack.

Basically, there are two Base Abilities that incurs Miss. One is Curse, which is single-targeted and makes the target miss by chance; the other is Drunken Haze, which is an AoE skill that makes all targets in the area of effect miss by chance. Miss debuffs usually don't stack with each other because they are based on the same spell.

By debuffing Roshan with Miss Chanse you are decreasing his attack, giving your team more health and time to kill him.

Broodmother

Incapacitating Bite

Gives a 10% chance to miss

Rikimaru

Smoke Screen

6 seconds duration - 15 seconds colddown - 75 mana (182 starting mana) - Misses on 40% of attacks and reduce IAS by 25%

Troll

Blind

15 seconds duration - 7 seconds colddown - 20 mana (169 starting mana) - Misses on 15% of attacks

Pandaren Brewmaster

Drunken Haze

7 seconds duration - 12 seconds colddown - 50 mana (182 starting mana) - 45% miss chance

Kill Faster

Some heroes haves abilities that can either damage Roshan a lot or increase your team’s damage.

Beastmaster

Beast Rage

Every continuous attack gives Rexxar 5% bonus attack speed

Enigma

Conversion

Spawns 3 Lesser Eidolons - 30 seconds duration - 15 seconds cooldown - 125 mana (260 starting mana) - Enigma needs another player with summons (for example Furion or Lycan)

Ursa

Fury Swipes

6 bonus damage per attack

Venomancer

Plague Ward

40 seconds duration - 5 seconds colddown - 20 mana (195 starting mana) - Summons Plague Ward with 75 hit points and 11 max damage

Lycanthrope

Howl

16 seconds duration - 35 seconds cooldown - 15 mana (195 starting mana) - Adds 11 damage to heroes and 4 damage to units

Abaddon

Frostmourne

+10% IAS allies

Armor Reduction

By reducing Roshan’s armor you are increasing your team’s attack. For example, with 3 armor reduction you will remove 4200 EHP from Roshan.

Nevermore

Presence of the Dark Lord

1 armor reduction

Vengeful Spirit

Terror

20 seconds duration - 15 seconds colddown - 40 mana (195 starting mana) - Reduces base armor by 2 and damage by 5%

Lanaya

Meld

10 seconds duration - 7 seconds colddown - 50 mana (260 starting mana) - 50 damage and reduce armor by 2

Alchemist

Acid Spray

12 seconds duration - 22 seconds colddown - 160 mana (325 starting mana) - reduces armor by 3

Bristleback

Viscous Nasal Goo

5 seconds duration - 1.5 seconds colddown - 30 mana (182 starting mana) - reduces armor by 1

Replays

QUOTE

Lich - Sylla - Venom – Dazzle
Patch version: 1.22
Map: DotA Allstars 6.54b
Description: Roshan killed at 2:40 mark with 4 people.

QUOTE

Linh – Sylla – Venom - Brood - Lycan
Patch version: 1.22
Map: DotA Allstars 6.57b
Description: Roshan killed at 2:00 mark with 5 people.

QUOTE

Mouz vs MYM
Patch version: 1.22
Map: DotA Allstars 6.57b
Description: Mouz main problem was they did their strategy very obvious (choosing everything very fast + Sylla) and didnt succeed because of it.

QUOTE

This is a Link to an Australian Roshan tournament. This is the Link to the Results. You can see three replays of teams soling Roshan before the 2 minutes mark.

Props to m1LkmaN for the information.

Final Word

Well, that’s about it. I hope it helped!

Apologies if you don't like my guide, since this is my second guide and I don't have very good English. Also, I reserched most of the information by myself so it may not be 100% correct.