Trying to learn Puck?

Just feels like when I play Puck, I'm doing nothing. It's Illusory Orb feels almost impossible to hit, and It's like I'm doing no damage at all with it, just feeling more like a CC bot than anything else.

Does Puck take some getting used to and a bit of a different playstyle? I know It's a slippery thing, but I feel really bad I'm not doing too hot on it.


Get really really comfortable using Phase Shift and when its acceptable to use it. Against a QE invoker in lane? feel free to Phase Shift his autos to trade effectively against him (as long as ur not taking much creep agro). Queen of Pain? Be careful where you are to Phase Shift cause she might immediately follow with a Blink Dagger for example. Get good at reacting at the right time. I dont know what your MMR is but people will animation cancel their spells to bait out Phase Shift. Its difficult but you gotta wait until they actually throw their spell before you can be sure (at least with projectiles). overall, use it liberally, use it fast, but be aware.

Blink Dagger on Puck is one of the most core items on any hero in dota. I cant think of many heros that have an item thats more core than Puck with Blink. Its really really important to get your Blink at a reasonable time. I personally go Bottle Boots into Blink and get Power Treads after. Depending on your farm and if you are snowballing, you can get a Blink as early as 8 mins, but really try to get it before 15. Seeing Puck get their Blink at 30 mins hurts me so much. Treat yourself like a carry inbetween ganks, farm that shit (but don't run into your spectres lane and steal shit). This is really important

Combos. Theres multiple combos that Puck consistently pulls to do various things in the game. The simplest is to throw an Illusory Orb and immediately Phase Shift, then Ethereal Jaunt to the Illusory Orb when shift is about to expire to escape a lot of ganks. Get fast at pulling this combo since ganks can kill you in an instant. Before you get Blink Dagger you don't really need any sort of real consistent combo to fight, just throw your Dream Coil right on the enemy, throw an  Illusory Orb, Jaunt to it, then silence them. RIGHT CLICK THEM THIS IS IMPORTANT Puck has a surprising amount of damage so one you burn your spells make sure you are autoing people while your spells are on cooldown in a safe spot. Once you have your Blink, the combo you should know (practise this several times in a wtf lobby it will help a lot) looks like this: Blink - Waning Rift - Dream Coil - Illusory Orb - Phase - Jaunt. You should be able to pull that entire thing off in about a second, so be quick! Blink into the middle of them, silence them, coil them, then throw your Illusory Orb to hit as many of them as possible while also aiming in a safe direction, Phase Shift to hide while it goes away, then Jaunt.

Puck is all about Finesse, she is more squishy than a wet paper bag. This means the more you play and get a feel for everything about her - atk animation, cast times (or lack of) ranges etc, the more effective you'll become.

The big thing with her is also knowing her combos. Once you hit 6 you become super strong and that strength increase until lvl 11, after then she starts to fall off. Remember this, and try to be active during this time. Her next power spike happens when you get Blink (which will usually be before lvl 11 anyway). Pre- Blink you may want to Initiate with  Dream Coil, along side your teammates, then Illusory Orb and Waning Rift is neccessary without putting yourself in too much danger.

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