Understanding Power Levels
I don't know about you guys, but I mostly play support. As a support, my life has gotten incredibly more difficult over the past months. If we disregard all the buffs to supports, with cheaper Wards etc., the viability of supports such as Bounty Hunter and Riki has made it incredibly more difficult to keep your team happy. Solo support? Even worse.
But it actually started earlier. When jungling Sand King became a thing. A lot of my midlaners would be unaware of the fact, that a Sand King can come killing them with a Blink Dagger, once the clock crosses the 8-9 minute mark. "Where's the support" they'll ask. Tell me this hasn't happened to you. I see it happen quite frequently, people overestimating their own power level and underestimating that of their opponents. I have seen Shadow Fiends walk invisible into a support Tusk, sure he'd kill him with his ultimate. Nada. Not even half hp.
So let me talk a bit about power levels and why I think it's important to understand them. The concept described in this blog post may not be nothing new, but it's about putting a name on it and giving an insight as to how I handle it, so that it may help you.
What are Power Levels?
This may not be an established term, but it's the only way to describe what I'm about to say. A power level to me describes the strength of a certain hero with a certain amount of money and levels. It's difficult to quantify a hero's power level, because networth alone does not mean much.
Say an 
Anti-Mage goes for 
Power Treads, a 
Yasha and 
Battle Fury. His networth will be 7975.
An enemy 
Phantom Lancer may have less networth, say 7425 ( Power Treads, 
Ring of Aquila, 
Drum of Endurance, 
Diffusal Blade) - who's stronger? If both are equal in level, the Phantom Lancer. In fact, PL can even afford to be a level or two below the AM and could probably still be a bigger threat. (depends which levels these are, but more on that later)
Thus, his power level is much higher.
Networth not being an exact indicator of a hero's power level, is something that people need to be more aware of in general - when playing and even when spectating a professional match. Two heroes can be apart 2000 Gold in terms of networth, but if those 2000 Gold are only sitting in the bank, then there is no 2000 gold advantage in a fight.
Different heroes, different power levels
Every hero is different, and thus their potential and their power level is different from any other hero. To put it simply, let's talk about the currently popular 
Alchemist: Much like Anti-Mage, Alchemist is a carry that relies on flashfarming early on with his Greevil's Greed and building an advantage to get 6 slotted as early as possible. In comparison, carries such as 
Spectre or Phantom Lancer have no flashfarming capabilities (to a degree). However, when 6 slotted, they are considered stronger and more capable than a 6 slotted Alchemist, although with the Agh's drop for his supports, Alch has value beyond being 6 slotted.
Which means, that Alchemist ’s power level is innately weaker than those of other hardcarries, but because he has the flashfarm potential, he makes up for that by peaking earlier.
This same logic applies to many heroes and many scenarios. Certain heroes are played as support or offlane, just because a lack of farm is not detrimental and their power level is still strong enough. An 
Earthshaker with a 
Blink Dagger is sufficiently strong. This is certainly nothing new, but it brings me to the next point.
Understanding Item & Level Timings
Item and Level timings are important when attempting to asses the opposing and your own power levels. Knowing when an Anti-Mage with freefarm should get his Battle Fury with perfect last-hits is important in knowing when to gank him.
An even more important example would be the midlane. If you are a 
Windranger, starting with a 
Null Talisman and you face a 
Zeus that only has 2 
Claritys, you have to know that it is inevitable that he will acquire a 
Bottle soon. If however, he has started with a Null Talisman himself, harassing him is vital in delaying that Bottle/
Soul Ring which is much more important to him than it is to you.
This is one of many examples that can be applied both in lane, but also in the midgame. 15 Minutes in, you see the enemy Spectre running around with nothing but 
Phase Boots. You assume she is going straight for the Radiance and attempt a kill in order to delay it. Then a minute later, just before you attempt to gank her, you notice Drum of Endurance all of a sudden. Maybe, just maybe you don't go for this gank, because trading 2 for the carry, who is tankier than before mind you, could not work out. Even if it did, would it be worth it?
As for levels - again, most players will know this subconsciously - but understanding that an opponent is significantly weaker because he is lacking a level, most importantly level 6, his ultimate, can and should change your behaviour towards him and the game. A lot of heroes are significantly stronger with level 3, 5 and 6 in the laning stage, just because their primary skill will be stronger and they will acquire an ultimate.
How to apply this knowledge?
There are some simple steps in how to apply this knowledge properly.
Communication. The first step is to communicate information with your teammates. "Hey Guys, this offlaner is getting quite some XP, I can't fully zone him out." - "Guys, this guy mid is having the time of his life in terms of lasthits". Relay all the necessary information, so your teammates won’t be surprised when there's suddenly an offlane level 6 
Clockwerk 6 minutes in, ganking your midlaner. But not only simple information like this is important. Share your assumptions, ask if certain scenarios seem likely. "Could their 
Sand King have a Blink Dagger already?" - Put your teammates on alert.
Muscle Memory As information is key, it is important to obtain that information. Make it a habit of yours to open the in-game scoreboard every minute or two, to keep tabs on the opponents' levels. Keep clicking on the opponents' heroes to check their inventory. Ping out crucial items, even if someone else has already. Some may overlook it, some may have not paid attention at all. These things must come natural to you.
Pressure. If you know that your team is peaking in terms of power levels - all of you just got another item, everybody hit a crucial level - utilize it to your advantage and force the issue. Even if you're not peaking, if you know and see that your enemies are building up crucial items, hit them while they're vulnerable.
Patience. In that very notion, keep track of your teammates item progressions. Don't initiate a push or a teamfight when you know that your midlane 
Shadow Fiend has a 
Mekansm soon. Wait out certain items and levels before acting. Patience becomes even more important the later the game goes on. Often, players feel pressured and think that they need to act. That is not always the case. It is okay to fight with an item and level disadvantage. It is why certain heroes, such as 
Sniper, used to be popular during a former meta/patch, amongst other things. Even more so, it is why teamfight heroes, such as Sand King, Earthshaker, 
Magnus, 
Tidehunter and 
Enigma will always stay relevant. All you need is a blink and a well placed ultimate to change the game. The item and level disadvantage can be huge, that doesn't mean the power level disadvantage is.
This is my take on power levels, something most of you will be familiar with. I'm curious to see how you handle these scenarios and if you have experienced similar behaviour in-games. I believe that understanding the power levels of each hero and reacting accordingly can set you up to win the game, but of course it ain't that easy.
first
Nice work mate, I feel you as a support.
fir... dammit
Interesting article. The concept of a "power curve" is still something I only begin to grasp, as it differs for every hero, even ones, on first thought, very similar to each other. Good to see some learned thoughts on that, but I'd like to see it taken further, feels like this particular article was only an introduction.
I'm another big supporting fan, but I think it's gotten easier. Glimmer Cape is such a beautiful item.
its over 9000?
your picture makes noobs want to play AM more and feed
Me: "Guys the offlaner is getting pretty farmed here"
"Hey mid would you mind ganking, I cant really seem to get farm here"
"Watch out the offlaner has level 6"
DOUBLE KILL!
Team: "Report feeder"
Finally someone explaining the basics of doto,let's make this game a better game!
The real point is not that there's a power curve, but how you explore it at the right moment.
PL six sloted is still cancer, even with those nerfs.. His peak remains the same.
this isn't related to anything in dota and something can be quite useful under some changes while other is a total bullshit
i admire the work you put in and despise lack of really meaningfull information in this article
excellent Job !
I enjoyed reading it mate
Excellent article.
@HaylingZar I like that picture... I guess i'm gonna play anti-mage today!:D Or not i'm not;C Need to sleep... I hope i don't wake up tommorow with thought about playing anti-mage tommorow, 'cause i will feed for sure:C
this is great
Me: "Guys the offlaner is getting pretty farmed here"
Team: "Lol noob"
Nice read, thanks :)
this is all nice, but you do know level of retardines in 4k-5k pubs. No one wants to listen to you and they are all next dendi. Nice article but im afraid its all in vain :(
with the current meta the way it is (team fight orientated) and every scrub following professional trends , support has become a almost non-exiting role. i myself play support more often than not (solo most of these as-well) and the utter lack of people knowing the 'power level' as your so nicely put is a major issue. poorly picked fights, especially when supports are nowhere near position, wreck moral. and the ever persistent "we need wards" whenever they get ganked by invis heroes are madding! ( while on the topic. BUY DUST CARRIES!! you'r the one that needs the detection). really liked the read. :D Check your power level boys and girls, and respect the supports u need them more than u think!
I feel you man, try playing a supp in low mmr, you'll suffer much more worst than hell zzz
there should be "tiering"of Hard Carry probably
I don't know how that can be quantified or what criteria can be used, but examples where scenarios exists such as-
6 slotted proper items Spectre outcarries a 6 slotted proper items Alchemist.
Or a 4 item Faceless Void with Chrono can solo pop a 6 slotted Shadow Fiend.
Or a PL with items can still get destroyed by an Earthshaker in a single blink echo slam. (Some PL players overestimate the reworked PL forgetting illus take 500% dmg and no longer has built-in passive magic resistance...)
But props to OP for bringing this up,
as a support player it's frustrating to see when your carry/mid can't gauge the match up properly
but I suppose those intangibles are all part of the game.
That's really by Dragonfist? Really awesome pic
I think about this stuff a lot in games already, subconsciously though, I've never dubbed it anything, "powerlevels"
I feel like I always try to explain to my team that our alchemist isn't going to out carry their antifun.
I was expecting you guys to demonstrate some ranking or quantification of this power level stuff but you never bothered.
This is an interesting article but I think it need a lot more content to bring out it's full potential.
Things like Undying being a U shape in terms of relevance - uber strong at level 3, kind of nothing until 35 minutes, then uber strong again. It's all about exploiting your strength relative to your teams - getting kills early, not feeding mid, wrecking late.
is it sad that I know which exactly set each of those anti mage cosmetics comes from?
"Item and Level timings are important when attempting to asses the opposing and your own power levels."
"asses"
Duuuuuuuude.
All this of course means jack shit if your midlaner doesn't gank, which is 99.99999% of pub games at under 3500 MMR
Great ideas and advice. Communication is always key and you have to make your teammates aware of what's going on. It's never fun when you cast Doom on a target with a freshly purchased Linkens; communication and checking inventories are key.
Cool info
Any hero with more than power level of 9000 ?
brace up "its overrrrr 9000!!!" comments incoming
Good read. I agree communications is the key.
More adcanced guides please :) Though we already know these, these can help me and other 9k redittors out there reach our 10k mmr
This is just common sense. It should be understood by every support so that they know when to make rotations to: Kill a carry before a major item, stack jungle and stay behind a mid if you think they need help.
yoo ganja lovers
I often have this experience while playing a supp:
when carry farms all from lanes to neutrals and gets + lvl + items.
and cause of this everyone dies during some fights and he along cannot fight with the rest of enemies;
but ofc carry will blame in this the rest of team without thinking that he was the main reason of that defeat.
crucial items are needed not only for carries.
if carry has 6 slots and the rest of the team 2-3 max.. it is not a miracle that a fight will be lost.
its nice ! but come explain this in 3k...where i am stuck.....
"I have seen Shadow Fiends walk invisible into a support Tusk, sure he'd kill him with his ultimate. Nada. Not even half hp."
boo, horrible example. his ult does 1k/1.5k/2k damage after reductions, just because someone is incompetent at execution does not necessarily mean he misjudges the relative power levels.
ayyo skimmiboy educating ppl
lol is better !
a good article but NOTHING new. i really want to improve, but cant find any suitable literature. everything seems to be geared towards people who dont use the turn signal.
This is really helpful article stuffed with crucial commentaries and vivid explanations on meta. However, Dota 2 players that comprise 3-4k mmr bracket mostly have insufficient skills, knowledge and drafting issues. You will eventually get into those kind of situations when ur team is extremely weaker than ur opponents(sometimes you will be thrown into 4 carry pickers, feeders, account boosters, account buyer and etc.). If u want to increase ur mmr u need to dedicate a lot of time and effort if u r ready to do so, keep on reading.
What I do in order to improve my mmr?
1) Before starting playing mmr, i play 2-3 games in pub mm, so that I can warm up before mmr, cause anyway u won't be able to react quickly without walk around.
2) You need to be a good carry or mid-laner. The chance of winning most of the games are higher if u posses good skills on heroes that can turn the fight or take advantage from early to the late game, heroes that have good aoe or physical damage. Heroes like: Shadow Fiend, Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit, Templar Assassin, Tinker, Clinkz, Windranger, Queen of Pain, Tiny, Razor. This heroes can do a lot of damage both physical and magical, moreover they can easily push the lanes and take down towers which is very important.
3) You need to communicate with ur team, as u r in a prominent role(mid or carry), u have to ask ur team to create space for u or wait until u make some items before u can push and etc.
4) Always keep farming and stacking, never stop farming and never miss the free creeps on lane(there are lanes that are totally free from opponents). If u are out to gank, and ur opponents saw u on ward they start to go back and hug the towers which means ur gank has just failed totally. What most of the mid players in 3k and 4k do in this case, they start to farm the creeps on lane thus pushing it to the opponent safe zone and leeching experience and stealing farm from ur teammates, instead try farming the jungle.
5) Always check ur opponents' slots, levels and amount of mana. If u r playing mid or carry, u always need to be aware whether ur potentially ganking opponents seen on map or not. It is mostly supports or heroes that have stuns and lock downs in early game, u should always look at the map and their mana pool, if u decide to kill the hero on ur lane you should be aware whether his teammates have tp or mana for tp.
6) Don't blame ur teammates as they are not always perfect and brilliant, on some point u should not rely on ur teammates, cause most of them might not even recognize what is happening.
7) Always prioritize ur skills and item when you acquire them. Mostly ppl build their heroes with the same pattern every game, buying same items and the same skill builds. Never do that.
Woaw. That photo of pl,am and es is awesome. :bd
If it's not a problem I will translate this text to Polish language and use it on my facebook page. All the credits and link will be given to you of course. :)
In 3k, fuckinly rare to struggle with a good teammates
I miss the times were the mid hero secured midgame by ganking lanes way more often after getting a certain rune or hitting 6. Nowadays its more like mid became a second carry, who also needs a lot of attention from the supports. Instant Shadow Fiend pickers expect all other lanes to go well, the enemy offlaner should be zoned while camps should still be stacked as well. Meanwhile your carry gets beaten to a pulp by roaming heroes whenever you try to pull or stack. Trilanes became less popular because people are way too attracted to action and roaming heroes, yes babysitting your carry is boring most of the times, but against the popular dual offlanes its often needed to get your carry online. I really hate it when my team decides to fuck up lanes just because they don't like to play a certain role/playstyle. Getting mmr can be easier than you think with the right mindset...
Shadowfiend/QoP/TA are still ganker kings. A single invis/haste rune usually means a double kill if not more.
And a lvl 11 SF point blank range Requiem on a Tuskar? Tusk evaporates.