Hero Discussion of this Day: Zeus (16 November 2012)

Zeus, the Lord of Olympus

Zeus has one role: offensive spellcaster. His spell damage output is probably the highest of any hero in the game, due to the great damage and low cooldown periods of his spells. Arc Lightning strikes a large number of enemies with a relatively low damage chain lightning, but due to its low cost and cooldown it can be cast a large number of times during a battle. Lightning Bolt is easy to understand: lots of damage! Compared to a lot of other offensive spells, Lightning Bolt's damage, cooldown, and mana cost are very good, and it is Zeus' primary means for dealing with enemy heroes. Although Zeus has a passive skill, it is in fact another way to blast his enemies with even more spell damage. Every time Zeus casts a spell, Static Field shocks nearby enemy heroes for a small percentage of their life. This means Zeus will continue to deal good damage throughout the game as enemy heroes get higher and higher life. Perhaps Zeus' most feared ability is Thundergod's Wrath. When cast, this spell causes a bolt of lightning to strike all enemy heroes on the battlefield. This spell is especially useful for finishing off nearly dead heroes who are fleeing from battle, but it is also useful to give Zeus and his allies an edge in team fights.

Lore

Lord of Heaven, father of gods, Zeus treats all the Heroes as if they are his rambunctious, rebellious children. After being caught unnumbered times in the midst of trysts with countless mortal women, his divine wife finally gave him an ultimatum: 'If you love mortals so much, go and become one. If you can prove yourself faithful, then return to me as my immortal husband. Otherwise, go and die among your creatures.' Zeus found her logic (and her magic) irrefutable, and agreed to her plan. He has been on his best behavior ever since, being somewhat fonder of immortality than he is of mortals. But to prove himself worthy of his eternal spouse, he must continue to pursue victory on the field of battle.

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Roles: Nuker

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Strength: 19 + 1.8

Agility: 11 + 1.2

Intelligence: 20 + 2.7

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Damage: 41-49

Armour: 1.54

Movement Speed: 295

Attack Range: 350

Base Attack Time: 1.7

Missile Speed: 1100

Sight Range: 1800 (Day) / 800 (Night)

Turn Rate: 0.6

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Spells

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Arc Lightning

Hurls a bolt of lightning that leaps through nearby enemy units.

Level	Manacost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	65	1.75	700	500 (bounce distance)	N/A	Sends out a bolt of lightning that deals 85 damage and jumps 5 times
2	70	1.75	700	500 (bounce distance)	N/A	Sends out a bolt of lightning that deals 100 damage and jumps 7 times
3	75	1.75	700	500 (bounce distance)	N/A	Sends out a bolt of lightning that deals 115 damage and jumps 9 times
4	80	1.75	700	500 (bounce distance)	N/A	Sends out a bolt of lightning that deals 145 damage and jumps 15 times

• Magical Damage

• The damage of Arc Lightning is not reduced with each bounce

Arc Lightning is Zeus' favorite spell to use against puny mortals.

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Lightning Bolt

Summons a bolt of lightning to strike an enemy unit, causing damage and a ministun. Lightning Bolt also provides True Sight around the target in a radius of 900.

Level	Manacost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	75	6	700	N/A	N/A	Causes a bolt of lightning to strike an enemy target for 100 damage
2	95	6	700	N/A	N/A	Causes a bolt of lightning to strike an enemy target for 175 damage
3	115	6	700	N/A	N/A	Causes a bolt of lightning to strike an enemy target for 275 damage
4	135	6	700	N/A	N/A	Causes a bolt of lightning to strike an enemy target for 350 damage

• Magical damage

• Gives true sight within 900 range

• Reveals the surrounding area (1000 range during both day and night) for 3 seconds

• Possesses a mini-stun, which allows Zeus to interrupt channelling spells and items with this ability

A shocking punishment for rebellious heathen.

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Static Field

Passive

Zeus shocks all nearby enemy units whenever he casts a spell, causing damage proportional to their current health.

Level	Manacost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	-	-	-	1000	-	Each spell Zeus casts causes 5% of any enemy's current health to be dealt as damage
2	-	-	-	1000	-	Each spell Zeus casts causes 7% of any enemy's current health to be dealt as damage
3	-	-	-	1000	-	Each spell Zeus casts causes 9% of any enemy's current health to be dealt as damage
4	-	-	-	1000	-	Each spell Zeus casts causes 11% of any enemy's current health to be dealt as damage

• Magical damage

• The damage from Static Field is dealt before the damage from the used spell

• Units need not be visible to be damaged

• Using items does not trigger Static Field

The air crackles with static when the Thundergod walks the world.

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Thundergod's Wrath

Ultimate

Strikes all enemy heroes with a massive bolt of heavenly lightning, no matter where they may be. Thundergod's Wrath also provides True Sight around each hero struck. If an enemy hero is invisible, it takes no damage, but the True Sight is still created at that hero's location.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area	Duration	Effects
1	225	90	Global	1000 (vision area), 900 (true sight area)	N/A	Every enemy is hit by lightning that deals 225 (440*) damage, providing vision and true sight around the target. If an enemy hero is invisible the lightning doesn't strike but vision and true sight is still created at the hero's location
2	325	90	Global	1000 (vision area), 900 (true sight area)	N/A	Every enemy is hit by lightning that deals 350 (540*) damage, providing vision and true sight around the target. If an enemy hero is invisible the lightning doesn't strike but vision and true sight is still created at the hero's location
3	450	90	Global	1000 (vision area), 900 (true sight area)	N/A	Every enemy is hit by lightning that deals 475 (640*) damage, providing vision and true sight around the target. If an enemy hero is invisible the lightning doesn't strike but vision and true sight is still created at the hero's location

• Magical Damage

• Reveals the surrounding area (1000 range during both day and night) for 3 seconds

• Gives true sight 900 range around each affected target for 3 seconds

• If a target is invisible it will get revealed (both vision and true sight) but not damaged

• Reveals magic immune targets but they are not struck by lightning

The Lord of Heaven smites all who oppose him, near or far.

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Recent Changes from 6.76/6.76b/6.76c

• Thundergod's Wrath damage increased from 210/335/460 to 225/350/475

• Thundergod's Wrath Aghanim's damage increased from 400/500/600 to 440/540/640

Recent Changes from 6.75/6.75b

• Arc Lightning cooldown decreased from 2 to 1.75

• Thundergod's Wrath cooldown decreased from 120 to 90

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Findings (not-factual information as above):

I find Zeus to cause HUGE blows to any enemy with so many k's of health. His nukes are deadly. He's often forced into a supporting role, which is not him, he has no supporting skills, and it just wastes his potential - but sometimes you have to take one for the team.

If you want to use his true sight ability strategically, if you had an invisible hero near your lane, you could lightning bolt a creep to gain vision of them. In the same aspect, you can lead neutrals to cliffs or common ward spots, use lightning bolt on them and reveal an enemy ward to kill it.

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"If you pay attention... even YOU can be the biggest kill stealer on your team once every {90} seconds. - Repick_

A discussion by Myzzrym discusses Zeus' role in DotA.

Quadef and Shadowx22 have comments on building Zeus (items and skill build, I personally use the skill build Quadef mentions).

Synchrotr0n has some of the best advice you could have, read his post, but the main part below:

"The order should be arc > ult > bolt in the early-mid game and then arc > bolt > ult at the late game (or after buying aghanim). This will maximize the damage done by static field."

Wilco- has a tl;dr on Zeus, which I still believe to be applicable.

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If you guys want a specific hero to be discussed next, please feel free to post (or message as someone did for Meepo).

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Posts are every 2 days, next post will be on the 18th.

Important Gyrocopter tip of last thread by htseee and Shred_Kid: "Since the effects of items such as MKB and Daedalus don't carry over with Flak Cannon, you want to get agility/attack speed based items (like Butterfly) to properly utilise Flak Cannon."