Would you like to learn how to play and win games as Crystal Maiden in Dota 2?
Infamous for developers Nerfing her in every update, many are still not aware of the true potential of Crystal Maiden. She is in fact, a formidable Spellcaster who has few rivals when it comes to sheer damage output. Additional Farming abilities are another reason to learn how to play Crystal Maiden in Dota 2.
Minimal reliance on items as well as a fighting potential unlike any other, she is destructive to enemy lineups. Moreover, she also has multiple Disables forms, including a Root and two movement speed Slows. Also, Crystal Maiden is self-sufficient because of her excess Mana Regeneration, making her downtime quite low.
Crowd-Controlling abilities are a major part of her impressive arsenal and can lead to landslide victories in fights. Furthermore, Crystal Maiden, though played as a Support, also has farming abilities, making her scalable into the Late Game. These attributes, in addition to a good Intelligence Gain, make it a must to play Crystal Maiden in Dota 2.
Because of her impressive Slowing and Kiting abilities, she fares well against heroes who she can distract. Some of these heroes are Phantom Assasin and Spirit Breaker, who have no inherent defenses against her abilities. As for teammates, she works well with Juggernaut and Sven, who benefit from her ability to hold enemies in place.
Crystal Maiden’s Abilities
Her first ability, Crystal Nova, is a Nuking ability that damages and Slows enemies in a 425 radius. Dealing a max of 500 damage with the appropriate talent, it is often enough to finish off enemies. Moreover, this ability is also a great farming tool and ideal for chasing enemies. It also has a low cooldown, making it exceptional for harassing enemies.
Frostbite is Crystal Maiden’s first true disable, allowing her to cover enemies in ice, rooting and damaging them, and encasing any target in ice deals 100 Magical Damage per second and roots enemies depending on their type. The ability Roots enemy heroes for three seconds and creeps for up to a max of eleven seconds.
Frostbite and its versatility in using it to Farm or even to get solo pickoffs has few rivals. This spell and its use-cases are another reason why players must learn how to play Crystal Maiden in Dota 2.
Her iconic passive ability, Arcane Aura, provides her entire team with Mana Regeneration wherever they are on the Map. Allied heroes get additional Mana Regeneration points and recover 24 Mana with each spell that Crystal Maiden casts. The ability regenerates more of Crystal Maiden’s Mana herself, giving her 3 additional points.
Freezing Field is her ultimate ability and is another one of her Crowd-Clearing abilities. Crystal Maiden surrounds herself with 100 explosions of ice that both slow enemies and deal damage. While executing the ability, she also gains excess armor, which helps her become Tankier and able to survive fights.
How to Utilize her Abilities
The primary use of Crystal Nova is to damage enemies while simultaneously slowing enemies to Kite them in fights. This ability also has a long-range, so she can easily Harass enemies in Lane. Moreover, an integral use for the spell is to use it to catch up to enemies by farming Lane Creeps.
Frostbite is Crystal Maiden’s most important spell in ganking and catching enemies to kill them. To ensure she can utilize it fully, Crystal Maiden needs to position herself where she cannot die early on. This is because her relatively low cooldowns and Mana Regeneration benefit her highly in long, drawn-out, and clustered brawls.
To make sure one makes the most of Arcane Aura, they should draft Crystal Maiden into the right team. This is because allies who lack Mana Regeneration or have relatively small Mana Pools benefit from it. Moreover, it is worth noting that Arcane Aura often eliminates the need to buy items that cover Mana deficiencies.
Freezing Field is a channeled spell that cancels as soon as Crystal Maiden makes another move. As a result, one should ensure that they maintain the correct position and timing when casting Freezing Field. Since the change to increase armor when channeling the spell, it is another method to protect oneself in large engagements.
Item Build
As a Support hero, there is no greater purpose for Crystal Maiden than to secure a solid Laning Stage. Securing this game phase means that her Core can easily farm and gain a massive lead over enemies. Once this lead establishes, there are very few things that the enemy team can do to win the game.
Consequently, to establish this integral lead, she needs to buy items like Tangoes, Healing Salves, Enchanted Mangoes, and Iron Branches. These items not only help her trade effectively in the Lane, but assist her in aiding her Carry player. Healing at the proper times allows her to stay in Lane while constantly being a nuisance to enemies.
Moving on from the lane, the Boots of Speed is an important item to guarantee she can effectively gank lanes. These Boots help her cover up her abysmal Movement Speed, which can hinder her ganking skills. Moreover, she also requires a Magic Wand, which makes her much more durable, something she lacks to a great extent.
Next up are also items that boost her subpar mobility, Namely Blink Dagger or even a Glimmer Cape. These items are essential to winning fights as Crystal Maiden needs to use her spells appropriately. Both Blink Dagger and Glimmer Cape allow her to escape or jump into fights as a way to initiate engagements.
Finally, some Late Game items include the Black King Bar and Aghanim’s Sceptre. The Black King Bar helps her land all her spells efficiently and without becoming an easy target. Meanwhile, the Aghanim’s Sceptre is an amazingly aggressive item that allows her to root enemies while in her Freezing Field.
Laning Stage and Gameplay
In Lane, contrary to popular belief, Crystal Maiden is quite strong, and few supports can match her. With her Frostbite, she can easily root an enemy Core or Support, while Auto-Attacking gets massive damage. Apart from this damage, her Crystal Nova is impressive in the utility it provides while harassing heroes.
One of the most important things to guarantee a successful Laning Stage is the Creep Equilibrium. The Creep Equilibrium affects how well one’s Core can Last hit and Farm during the Lane. Denying Creeps, pulling small Neutral Camps, or Dragging waves are extremely potent ways with which one can balance the Lane.
Outside the Lane, though quite slow, Crystal Maiden is an incredible Ganker. This stems from the fact that she has both damage and Disables. With this impressive combination of spells, she can easily bring down any hero she wants. Moreover, with the help of an allied core, there are few heroes that she cannot eliminate effortlessly.
Another way to have a massive impact while ensuring not to die repeatedly is to use Smokes of Deceit. Smoking with a Core to invade the enemy jungle is a surefire way to establish and maintain a lead. This also allows Crystal Maiden to steal away map control from the enemy team.
Crystal Maiden, with her extremely low Skill-Cap, is one of the most popular heroes, and rightfully so. Her incredibly well-balanced arsenal and potential to transition into a Core are what make her so lucrative. This article teaches you to win games effortlessly by teaching you how to play Crystal Maiden in Dota 2.
