Chen, the Holy Knight of Dota 2, is among the most unique heroes in the game due to his exceptional ability to control neutral creeps and influence the map in powerful ways. As a versatile intelligence hero, Chen excels in early-game dominance, pushing, and team support. With an arsenal of abilities that can heal allies, amplify damage output, and turn foes into allies, this hero demands precision, strategic thinking, and situational awareness from players. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve deep into everything you need to know about Chen, including his lore, gameplay style, abilities, talents, recommended items, trivia, and more. Whether you’re new to Chen or looking to sharpen your Holy Knight skills, this guide will provide in-depth insights to help you master him.
Hero Background – Who Is Chen?
Chen is an intelligence hero in Dota 2 with a rich lore tied to his spiritual journey. Born and raised among the clans of the Hazhadal Barrens, he was bestowed with a rare talent for animal enthrallment—taming and converting creatures of the wild for his purpose. His spiritual quest took a pivotal turn after a devastating battle that left him questioning his origins and beliefs. Chen was eventually converted to the Fold and became its most zealous knight, unwavering in his dedication to its cause.
As a hero, Chen makes his mark on the battlefield by becoming the master of neutral creeps and his team’s amplifying force. His dynamic toolkit supports his allies and disrupts his enemies, making him a valuable addition to any Dota 2 squad.
Roles and Playstyle – How Chen Impacts the Game
Primarily played as a support hero or a pusher, Chen excels in the early stages of the game. His ability to control creeps through Holy Persuasion allows him to take charge of neutral units, providing utility, vision, and added strength to his team. Whether you’re using creeps for crowd control, healing, scouting, or pushing lanes, Chen’s early-game presence canbecome a deciding factor in the outcome of games.
His role requires strong map awareness, efficient jungle rotations, and effective coordination with teammates. While his presence is most noticeable during the early and mid-game stages, with proper itemization and effective ability usage, Chen’s impact can extend through late-game team fights and base sieges.
Abilities – Breaking Down Chen’s Skill Set
Holy Persuasion
Description: Holy Persuasion is Chen’s signature ability, allowing him to bring neutral or enemy creeps under his control. These units can be instrumental in providing additional damage, crowd control, or utility to your team, depending on the type of creeps persuaded.
- Base Health: 220 + (80 x Chen’s level)
- Upgrades: Enhanced by Aghanim’s Scepter and Aghanim’s Shard, allowing Chen to control more creeps and grant them extra abilities like Martyrdom.
- Effectiveness: The creeps die if Chen dies, making his positioning critical.
Penitence
Description: Penitence targets a single enemy unit with a debuff, slowing its movement speed and attack speed while granting bonus attack speed and attack range for Chen’s allies targeting the same unit.
- Debuff Duration: 5-8 seconds (scales with ability level)
- Range: 800 (increases with talent upgrades if applicable)
- Ideal Usage: Use Penitence during team fights to quickly eliminate high-priority targets with focused attacks.
Divine Favor
Description: Divine Favor provides a healing and armor aura to allies within range and offers teleportation support. It helps Chen reposition controlled units or allied heroes across the map.
- Stats Boost: Increased health regeneration and armor for allies in its radius.
- Teleportation: Can teleport a controlled unit to Chen or teleport all controlled units to him via self-cast.
- Dispellable: Effects are removed by offensive damage.
Hand of God
Description: Hand of God is Chen’s ultimate ability, providing a global heal to all allied heroes and his controlled creeps. This ability can turn the tide of critical team fights.
- Heal Type: Non-dispellable.
- Cooldown: Long cooldown but highly impactful when well-timed.
- Aghanim’s Shard Upgrade: Allows Chen to persuade ancient creeps.
Martyrdom
Description: Added with Aghanim’s Scepter, this ability enables Chen to sacrifice one of his persuaded creeps to heal an allied unit or deal damage to an enemy unit based on the creep’s current health.
- Range: 1200.
- Cooldown: Shared among all of Chen’s creeps.
- Ideal Usage: Use Martyrdom to optimize utility from underutilized or low-health creeps.
Hero Stats and Attributes
- Health: +22 per attribute point with +0.1 HP regeneration.
- Mana: +12 per attribute point with +0.05 mana regeneration.
- Base Damage: +0.7 main attack damage per attribute point.
- Vision Range: 1800 (day) / 800 (night).
Competitive History – Chen in the Professional Scene
Chen has a storied history in competitive Dota 2. His prime was during The International 3 (TI3), where he was the 6th most picked hero at the LAN Finals with an impressive 62% win rate over 65 games. Teams like Na’Vi and Alliance leveraged Chen’s early-game dominance to great success.
However, subsequent updates to the game’s jungle mechanics and meta changes have reduced his popularity. Despite this, skilled players opt to use Chen in niche strategies and optimized team compositions.
How to Play Chen – A Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s how you can effectively play Chen:
- Early Game: Focus on neutral camps and use Holy Persuasion to recruit creeps with useful abilities.
- Lane Support: Use Penitence and your controlled creep abilities to harass enemies and secure kills.
- Map Control: Use your creeps to scout, block enemy camps, or provide vision.
- Team Fighting: Keep Hand of God ready for game-changing heals in skirmishes.
Chen Items and Equipment
- Starting Items: Tango, Observer Ward, Clarities.
- Core Items: Mekansm, Holy Locket.
- Situational Items: Vladimir’s Offering, Force Staff.
- Late-Game Items: Aghanim’s Scepter, Guardian Greaves.
Chen Trivia – Did You Know?
- Chen’s name comes from an ancient legend of a holy knight who could command wildlife.
- The hero’s toolkit makes him one of the least picked heroes due to his high skill ceiling.
FAQs About Chen
What makes Chen a unique hero in Dota 2?
Chen’s ability to control neutral creeps and turn them into valuable allies makes him one of the most versatile heroes in Dota 2.
What items should I build on Chen?
Mekansm, Holy Locket, and Aghanim’s Scepter are among the best core items for Chen.
Can Chen solo-carry a game?
No, Chen’s strength lies in enabling his teammates rather than Solo carrying games.
How do I master Chen as a beginner?
Focus on practicing your creep micro-management and learning jungle camp rotations to optimize Chen’s early game impact.
What are some good creeps to control with Holy Persuasion?
Alpha Wolves and Centaur Courser are excellent choices for their utility and abilities.
How does Chen’s Aghanim’s Shard upgrade work?
The Shard upgrade allows Chen to persuade Ancient creeps, greatly enhancing his late-game utility.
Is Chen viable in the current meta?
While less popular, Chen remains a strong pick in coordinated games or when the draft favors his playstyle.
What are Chen’s main counters?
Heroes like Nyx Assassin and Doom can disrupt Chen’s abilities and summoned units effectively.
Can Chen teleport allies across the map?
Yes, Chen’s Divine Favor ability can teleport allied units and creeps to his location.
What is Chen’s biggest weakness?
Chen’s reliance on early-game dominance means he can fall off if his team cannot capitalize on his strengths.
Source : DATOHLEONG
Stay updated with reliable Dota 2 news sources. Visit dota2gamers.gg and for more insights about Dota 2.
