Dota 2 Hero Guide: How to dominate pubs with mid Grimstroke

Most of the 121 heroes found within Dota 2 are adaptations of characters from the original DotA.

However, all the new heroes released after patch 7.00 are exclusive inventions of Dota 2. Introduced in August 2018, Grimstroke is among this new generation of heroes. Like the rest of his ilk, Grimstroke also features several fresh mechanics, the newest of them being spell duplication.

Grimstroke is intended to be a position four or position five support. He is an enabler for his teammates by design with a follow-up stun and a set-up for extra nukes. But in the right hands, Grimstroke is also a devastating mid-lane hero. Here’s how to best utilize his kit to dominate a game as a core.

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What kind of Dota 2 draft is mid Grimstroke best against?

This mid Grimstroke build in particular works best against mid-laners who rely on their high physical damage output. Examples of heroes that fit this bill in Dota 2are Sniper, Clinkz, and Drow Ranger. However, heroes that can easily disengage, dispel, or disjoint projectiles like Outworld Destroyer or Morphling can counter mid Grimstroke’s combinations with good reaction timing.

Laning

Like other Dota 2 supports, Grimstroke’s greatest strength is his early power spikes. Grimstroke is an excellent position four to combine with most stun off-laners, so this is where he is played in most games. Grimstroke mid is extremely uncommon, thus the opponent mid-laner will most likely not know how to counterplay.

At any rate, the goal is unlike how one would play Grimstroke as a support in any Dota 2 sidelane. In the midlane, a core Grimstroke maxes Stroke of Fate (Q) first. The correct usage of this is to abuse the creepwave to both harass the opponent and secure the range creep with amplified damage.

Thanks to this attack, it is easy to keep the creepwave pushed in. Despite Grimstroke having a good nuke in Q, it is not possible to clear an entire creepwave with a single cast yet. So the right play is to prioritize zoning out the opponent mid-laner, keeping the creepwave pressure on, thus gaining control of the runes.

The starting item build should include two Null Talismans for some last-hitting ease as well as +6% spell amplification which is not easy to get in Dota 2. The next items should be a boot and a bottle. With a good rune, Grimstroke can gank the sidelines with maxed out Q and E, and alternatively a point in Soulbind (R). Most traditional mid-laners have the usual means of acquiring farm from creepwaves and stacks, but Grimstroke’s selling point is his dominating presence in ganks.

Mid to Late Game

With the help of his successful ganks, Grimstroke’s next core item should be an Ethereal Blade. With a level advantage, Grimstroke is a scary aspect to any agility carry if they get caught out. The combination here is to cast Ethereal Blade and Phantom’s Embrace (W) on the target, and then follow it up with additional damage and stun from Ink Swell (E).

With Soulbind (R), the same combination works on multiple targets. Before carries can activate their Black King Bar item, this will most certainly secure a teamfight by turning a 5v5 into a 5v3 under ideal circumstances.

Grimstroke has a few ways to scale well later into the game, but he is more or less rendered completely useless against spell immunity. If the game goes on for too long, the opponent will eventually get a comeback window with a BKB play. Like all tempo mids in Dota 2, the goal with Grimstroke is to close the map and end the battle before the opponent can get a chance to turn the game around.

Example of the build (Image via Valve)

Itemization

The core items for the Grimstroke mid build are Ethereal Blade for the combination attacks, Octarine Core for additional range and lower cooldown, and the Aghanim’s Shard upgrade (introduced with Dota 2 patch 7.28) for a huge buff to Ink Swell. The boots should ideally be a Boots of Travel after building Ethereal Blade because movement speed is indispensable. Other than this, as usual with Dota 2, itemization is situational. Here are some suggestions:

• Arcane Blink
• Spirit Vessel
• Rod of Atos (Gleipnir)
• Dagon
• Bloodthorn
• Shiva’s Guard
• Aeon Disk (against pick-off heroes like Faceless Void)
• Scythe of Vyse