[DotA] Tinker

Tinker, Boush

Boush has been educated in the most advanced goblin technology. These mechanical systems allow him to damage his enemies from a distance, while keeping himself relatively safe. He can also upgrade his systems to allow his weapons to fire quickly. A true demonstration of the power of knowledge.

Tinker is one of the very few DotA hero I first mastered. Master here means, get to know how to utilise his full potential, not just from being a heavy nuker with Rocket-Laser combo (plus sometimes dagon). When I first randomly picked Tinker a few years ago, I was so noob that I didn't even know what to do with his skill (especialy March), and his Rearm. It was when I read a magnificent guide by virot2 on how to play Tinker with Manta Style, that I realise that Tinker is not only just a heavy nuker, but also an extreme pusher and map controller when the game last long enough.

Basically his guide focus on the effective use of Manta Style to turn the tide of the game, which when all appropriate item were bought, enable Tinker to solo even up to 1v3 (depending on level of game). Basically his guide outline the final item build like this:

• Boot of Travel: with Rearm, Tinker can easily go back and forth from the fountain to any friendly unit on the map, granting great mobility especially when short of mana due to Manta-March turbo charge.
• Guinsoo Scythe of Vyse: Self-explanatory. Tinker don't have any disable, and with Rearm Tinker can perma-hex an enemy for the teammate to kill. Very important to get one of the component, Euls Scepter of Divinity early (sometimes I get it before BoT)
• Manta Style: The core item in virot2 build. This item, together with Rearm enable Tinker to simultaneously push 3 lanes, switching from lane to lane, casting March, Manta and then Rearm and proceed to the next wave of creep.
• Eye of Skadi: This item provide everything Tinker need for his Manta images: hp, damage etc. Yes it's frost attack overrides with Manta feedback, but the orb effect is not the main point of getting both of these items.
• Linken Sphere: Rearm will also refresh Linken, so Tinker can save his ass of some nasty targeted spells frequently.
• Radiance: the immolation damage even help further while pushing.

Overall Tinker is a decent hero to pick, but he need decent micro to be used effectively. So far this item build has helped me to win many games when I pick Tinker, but it still poses some problems: This build won't be very effective in high level play (IHCS etc) because of the frequent teamgank, which many will take advantage of Tinker low HP/lack of disable earlygame. Not to mention this item build cost a lot of gold, so unless the team Tinker in can hold long enough for Tinker to buy at least Guinsoo, Manta and BoT, it'll be hard for Tinker to carry the team to victory. Playing style also need to be adjusted depending on the opponent. I've tried several ways of playing Tinker, and seems for me that getting Euls first is much more effective than going for BoT first.
About item modification, sometimes I'd swap Radiance over Assault Cuirass if I'm on the winning side, or sometimes Blink Dagger if the opponent is more decent players. Well usually the game is already at end stage when Tinker buys BoT, Guinsoo and Manta.

And one replay to show how amazing a buffed up Tinker, an impossible comeback:
Impossible Comeback-Tinker
the description by virot2:
"-It's 80 min into the game, 4v4
-The game score is 21-50, and every hero on the Sentinel team has a negative record
-The Scourge have lost 5 towers, the Sentinel 8 (including two base towers)
-The entire Scourge team has godly items:
--- Drow has Burize, Butterfly, and Stygian
--- Stealth Assassin has MKB, Sange & Yasha, and Heart
--- Axe has Heart, Aegis, and a Reaver
--- Zeus has BoT, Refresher, and Aghanim's
-The best hero the Sentinel have is a Tinker with 2-6.

See if you can guess who wins the game, then watch the replay and be amazed."

This item build is no longer viable (to some extent) in the current "metagame" of dota which focused more on push/antipush and late game carry. The more recent, improved Tinker build can be read in this post [here]