Dota Auto Chess: Guide to Playing Elf

Elf is definitely a tactic you should master. This is one of the most versatile species in Dota Auto Chess, allowing you to consistently get good results in the game.

Summary of Elf’s Tactics

The goal of this strategy is to get the (6) Elf bonus in the mid-late game. Note that with most formations, the main damage is hand-to-hand, so the dodging ability that the Elves receive makes it very difficult for them to be defeated. Evasion multiplies, so (3) Elf is 20%, (6) is 40%, and (9) is 58%.

Also, if your opponent misses, they won’t generate mana, which means you have a slight advantage in casting your spell against your opponent in the late game.

Strength	Weakness
EXTREMELY strong against hand attacks Flexibility: The Elf squad has 2 Druid, 2 Assassin, and 2 Hunter, making it easy to get side combos	Elf combos are defensive, so you need to find other sources of damage for the squad Weak to magic damage – dodge is only effective with runaway attacks. Also, this formation is very difficult to get (2) the magic resisting Naga bonus compared to other strategies (like Warrior) – no Elves are Naga No Summoner Spells – there are no Elves with AoE control

Strength

• EXTREMELY strong against hand attacks
• Flexibility: The Elf squad has 2 Druid, 2 Assassin, and 2 Hunter, making it easy to get side combos

Weakness

• Elf combos are defensive, so you need to find other sources of damage for the squad
• Weak to magic damage – dodge is only effective with runaway attacks. Also, this formation is very difficult to get (2) the magic resisting Naga bonus compared to other strategies (like Warrior) – no Elves are Naga
• No Summoner Spells – there are no Elves with AoE control

Anti-Mage: 1 gold, Elf, Demon Hunter

Strong and flexible hero early game. If AM attacks the enemy’s key move, Anti-Mage can prevent that hero from using the move. In the late game (in 1v1 situations), try to place this hero in front of these enemy heroes: Disruptor, Tidehunter or Medusa.

Puck: 2 gold, Elf – Dragon, Mage

Puck is strong if combined with (3) Dragon or (3) Mage. Players should ignore this hero if they do not plan to follow the two paths mentioned above.

Nature Prophet: 2 gold, Elf, Druid

The second Elf Druid. It’s very easy to get 3-stars. The plants summoned from Furion are strong in the early-mid game, but weak later on. They can punish opponents well if you’re winning consistently, because these cards also cause the enemy courier to lose more health.

Luna: 2 gold, Elf, Knight

One of the main damage of Elf tactics. Prioritize upgrading this hero first – 3-star Luna plus some damage items will become extremely powerful. Note that Glaive will restore mana on many targets, so you need to damage this hero. Luna is a Knight, so it’s also very beneficial. Combining Knight and Elf will make Luna extremely strong even in the backline – Luna can take good hits when the main tanks of the team are dead.

Treant: 3 gold, Elf, Druid

One of the best tanks. As a Druid, Treant is easier to upgrade. This is also a hero that has a good early game support with the ability to heal. Don’t underestimate Treant’s DPS either. Although slow, but at 3-star, Treant deals 360 damage without any bonus.

Mirana: 2 gold, Elf, Hunter

Hunter is a long-armed hero with a decent skill set. Being one of two hunters in the Elf squad (the other hero is Windranger), which helps you achieve (3) Hunter combos in the mid-late game. This is a good way to increase the DPS of your squad.

Phantom Assassin: 3 gold, Elf, Assassin

Elf Assassin with “jump number” (crit). One of two Elf Assassins (the other Elf Assassin is Templar Assassin), which helps you gain (3) Assassin bonuses mid-late game to increase DPS.

Windranger: 3 gold, Elf, Hunter

Second Elf Hunter. Windranger has a strong AoE, so keep him in the corner – if Windranger shoots Powershot diagonally there will be a chance to hit multiple targets. Items like Voidstone are extremely valuable, helping Windranger recover Powershot faster.

Templar Assassin: 4 gold, Elf, Assassin

The second Elf Assassin and also very strong. Refraction makes this hero extremely resilient in the frontline. Dodging from the Elf combo also makes it difficult for the opponent to break the refraction barrier (when the hero dodges the attack and doesn’t lose health, the charge from the shield is not lost). Give the Templar Assassin item Crown to help the hero activate skills faster.

How to promote Elf

As mentioned, Elves are quite flexible in many different situations, allowing you to improvise. In general, the 2-star Anti-Mage in the early game is a good sign to keep an eye on the other Elves in the shop.

You can get (6) Elves right away, but usually get a few more pieces along with the Elves to boost the early-mid game lineup. Don’t try to force too many 1-star pieces in your formation just to get the (6) Elf bonus as soon as possible – it can do more harm than good.

Practically speaking, you’ll usually gain (6) Elves at level 7 or 8, and sometimes even at level 9.

The game plan is as follows:

Early game:

What are you waiting for? You can create an army of Elves from Druid with Treant and Furion, and then choose more Knights from Luna. Other opening paths are also possible, but they require you to sell more pieces to get (6) Elves later.

Mid-late game:

Your late game lineup will be based on what you have, as you can’t get (6) Elf without keeping your current combos and strong units.

For example, if you have a 2-star Queen of Pain in your squad (3) Elf, you will definitely think of Assassin – take the Phantom Assassin and Templar Assassin to get the (6) Elf bonus, and also earn the (3) Assassin bonus to increase DPS.

Formation Examples (6) Elf

ELF + DRUID + HUNTER

Previous: Anti-Mage, Treant Protector, Lone Druid, Medusa, Tidehunter
Behind: Enchantress, Nature Prophet, Luna, Mirana, Windranger

Combos: (6) Elf, (3) Hunter, (2) Beast, (2) Naga

Reach (6) Elves fastest and easiest through the opening Druid lineup. The reason is you can take Treant and Nature Prophet High level very fast. Combined with Anti-Mage Starting off, you’ll have a strong lineup of three Elves up front right from the start of the game.

Hold Enchantress Behind them are also good early game picks. Enchantress’s healing combined with dodging makes this hero very difficult to kill in the early game.

You can substitute Enchantress in the mid game to get (6) Elves faster, or if you can Lone Druid soon you can bring the Enchantress back for the (2) Beast bonus. Enchantress’ healing is weak towards the end of the game, but with a few damage items she can deliver decent DPS if the opponent can’t reach it.

What the second combo is depends on the Elves you get. In this example, we choose (3) Hunter bonus because you have Mirana and Windranger. That is, you only need to add Medusa or Tidehunter at the end of the game to get this bonus.

Having both Medusa and Tidehunter in your final lineup will give you an extra (2) Naga bonus, very valuable late game against magic damage. If you don’t need the magic resist bonus, you can replace Tidehunter with Enigma for example to increase damage.

Finally, if you encounter a hand-to-hand squad (like a Troll), you can eliminate the Enchantress to get (9) Elf.

You can trade Lone Druid for Medusa or Tidehunter for (3) Hunter bonus and better control of the board.

ELF + KNIGHT + DRAGON + ASSASSIN:

Previous: Anti-Mage, Chaos Knight, Templar Assassin
Behind: Luna, Puck, Dragon Knight, Viper, Phantom Assassin, Windranger

Combos: (6) Elf, (3) Dragon, (3) Assassin, (2) Knight, (1) Demon

If you get a lot of Anti-Mage and Luna early, think about the Elf + Knight strategy. Chaos Knight is a strong unit because he makes the team stronger while having a very high DPS, as he is the only Demon in the team.

Grab Puck as soon as possible – this hero will give you (3) Elf bonus and help you prepare for (3) Dragon later. Give the DPS items to Luna and prioritize her upgrade. Luna will help you get through the mid game until you get Dragon and Assassin.

Keep the Dragon Knight in front until you get (3) Dragon. Once that is achieved, try to raise Dragon Knight to 2-star and put this hero in the back.

In this example, we don’t get the 4th Knight to get the (6) Elf bonus as well as the (3) Assassin bonus faster. You already have three non-Elf pieces: Dragon Knight, Chaos Knight, and Viper, which means you will have (6) Elf at level 8 or maybe 9. Taking one more Knight will delay the 6th Elf until level 10. Ideally, we should “finish” the strategy at level 9 in some games, unless you have plenty of gold to get to level 10.

However, we can completely keep (3) Elf and get an extra Knight to make the team stronger in the middle of the game. The in-depth part about Knight will be discussed in the following article.

According to Dotahaven

Summary of the Dota Auto Chess manual