Safelane heroes get the most priority in a Dota 2 match, but they take on a lot of the team’s burdens as well. It’s a role where every mistake counts, and getting countered can be devastating before the game even begins.

Since carries are expected to join fights earlier and earlier, it’s become imperative for safelaners to either have powerful skills that can aid in skirmishes, or be an elite farmer to get items quickly.

But the following three heroes have the best of both worlds. Here are the three best carry heroes to gain MMR with in Dota 2 patch 7.31.


3 best carry heroes to gain MMR with in Dota 2 patch 7.31

Chaos Knight

Dota 2 Chase of the Baleful Reign Chaos Knight
Credit: Valve

Patch 7.31 gave Chaos Knight’s critical damage skill, Chaos Strike, a multiplier to all non-hero units, boosting it to 150 percent. This helps alleviate one of the hero’s greatest issues, farming, allowing him to hit jungle creeps and even clear ancients. Coupled with the Chaos Strike Lifesteal talent at level 10, this means that the hero never needs to go back to base—after a tough fight, he can simply head over to an available neutral creep camp to lifesteal easily back to full health.

This makes the hero a prime candidate for Armlet of Mordiggian, arguably Dota 2’s most broken damage item for a strength carry. When toggled on, strength heroes gain 75 damage, along with a health and armor boost. Armlet working on illusions is an additional kicker, since he’s the only strength hero with the innate ability to spawn illusions.



All these combine for a hero that’s mobile, a great fighter, and even has an in-built stun. It’s not uncommon to see a Chaos Knight use Phantasm, one-shot a support with Reality Rift and multiple Chaos Strikes, then turn to stun and wail on another target. Reality Rift’s spell immunity-piercing at level 20 gives the skill additional utility against cores with Black King Bar, ensuring that the hero scales well into later portions of the game.



Tiny

Dota 2 Tiny Majesty of the Colossus
Credit: Valve

Tiny has terrorized the game for what feels like months. Since the hero burst onto the scene as one of The International 10’s most contested picks, Tiny remains one of Dota 2’s most fearsome carries thanks to his burst damage and tower siege capabilities.

With Aghanim’s Shard now available at 15 minutes, Tiny gains access to his farming tool far earlier. Having permanent Tree Grab early on is a huge boost to his farming speed, and the minor gold cost means that it’s less of an investment than some other hero contemplating a Battlefury. It’s the kind of shard that you’ll definitely want to pick up as a carry Tiny, and as early as possible.

The hero’s assassination potential, even without many items, is high—just an Avalanche-Toss combo alone would provide you with enough damage to one-shot many squishy supports. When you add items like Echo Saber, Silver Edge, and Daedalus to that, even the tankiest of cores have trouble dealing with you.



The hero can be susceptible to kiting, which makes bursting important targets even more paramount. Pick and choose your targets—and your high-damage hits will count.

Medusa

Dota 2 Medusa Face
Credit: Valve

While Medusa has a reputation as a hero that farms the whole game, she’s generally capable of joining fights once she gets two cores items, usually Manta Style and Eye of Skadi. These two items give her plenty of well-rounded stats, allowing her to plant herself on the frontline and forcing enemies to target her.

She’s also surprisingly capable in lane. Mystic Snake can be a horrendous spell to play against, especially as a melee offlaner, and her high range and decent bulkiness in the early game means she often can survive long enough for support to help her out. Once she gets enough levels in her Split Shot, however, she’s off to the jungle.

This hero loves the triangle—the farming area between the offlane and midlane. Often, she’s left to simply defensively farm and soak up creeps pushing into mid, which makes defending that tower even more crucial if you have a Medusa on your team.

Stone Gaze has been increasingly buffed over the past years. While it was purely used for repelling enemies, giving her additional movement speed during the spell gives her pseudo-initiation capabilities and lets her get in position to dole out damage.

All in all, she’s an all-rounded hero that farms extremely fast. Medusa doesn’t burst heroes in a few clicks or take towers in seconds. But she makes that up for her ridiculous tanking powers and reliable, sustained damage output that allows her teammates to pick and choose when to join the fight.


This isn’t an end-all-be-all list of carry heroes currently powerful in the meta. They are just some of the easiest heroes to pick up and master, and are plug-and-play into most drafts. Other powerful choices include Templar Assassin, Monkey King, and Faceless Void.

Follow ONE Esports on Facebook for more Dota 2 news, guides, and highlights.

READ MORE: What is the Dota Pro Circuit?