Another info-dump x2

Disruptor was next, but Michael was unsure whether to even consider him. He vaguely remembered that the hero required some sort of coil to actually use his magic, meaning that Michael may have to create his own similar device as well. If not for this issue, he'd have been all for picking him, as Disruptor was a very powerful hero in the game. Shaking his head at it, he moves on to the next hero, perking up as he focuses on the name.

Drow Ranger. A blue-skinned archer who had powerful marksmanship abilities. Honestly, this was one of the crossroads that lay before Michael... To him, there were four options he could viably take when considering his heroes. The first was the warrior path, as he rationalised it. Taking heroes that'd generally provide passive abilities that would aim to improve his martial abilities, he'd aim everything towards swordsmanship and agility if he did choose this path.

The second path would be the mage path, concentrating fully on magic, spells, and enhancing his magic with every new hero. This would make him incredibly powerful so long as he had mana, but rather limited in melee range until he got heroes that'd nullify this disadvantage.

The third was the 'Archer' path. While Michael didn't really want to pick such a path, the benefits to it couldn't be understated. The many archer heroes in Dota made it a good choice if he wanted to pursue it... Michael knew their abilities would combo together and be stupidly powerful... Medusa had a Split shot ability, Luna had an ability that causes projectiles to bounce, and Drow(with an Aghanim's scepter) also had an ability to make her arrows bounce.

If he combined those abilities, his projectiles would multiply with each person struck... A single arrow would literally wipe out a kingdom... Or a world depending on how those abilities actually worked. Then again, there was also the possibility that they wouldn't work like they did in the game, which would be disappointing to say the least.

The fourth path is the hybrid path, the one Michael was currently on. Which combined everything, generally both physical skills and magic. He'd been set on this path initially by the Gandalfr runes and his need to be 'equal' to this land's nobles... Not that it worked out of course.

Regardless, he could always change his mind on which path to choose, later on, it wasn't like he couldn't go back and pick heroes in lower tiers, right?

His brows raise at his internal question, and he takes the chance to look back up at the Commoner tier where the names were still dimly lit, meaning he could pick them if he wished. That said, it would probably take more exp to level up with each tier he improved, so picking a lower-tier hero would be inefficient, to say the least.

Anyway, Drow Ranger had Frost Arrows, which did what the name implies, making all her arrows slow and deal frost damage at will. Gust, which shot a freezing blast of air that silenced anyone caught in it, strong. Multishot, kinda weak skill that allowed her to shoot multiple arrows at once at the expense of mana. And her ult is called Marksmanship, which drastically increases her Agility and allows her attacks to pierce through armour if no enemy was close to her. Good, but not really applicable to his fighting style. Though, being able to 'visit' Drow Ranger would be interesting...

The next hero on the list is Legion Commander, who Michael had been eyeing ever since he noticed her name. She wasn't all the pretty, but most of her abilities made up for it. Her first was probably terrible as far as Michael was concerned to be honest, Overwhelming Odds implied that she needed an army at her back to work. And while it was powerful, the fact that it may or may not work without an army was a big negative. Next is Press The Attack, health regen and attack speed boost that can remove status effects from the target, very good, though, it must be said that you can't cast it on yourself if your knocked unconscious or something, making it more of a supportive skill.

Her third ability was Moment of Courage, a passive skill that, when hit, allowed her to retaliate wit ha strike that also healed her for the damage done... Very powerful... Last but not least, Duel. In the game, it forces you and an enemy to fight to the death, where the winner would get a permanent bonus to their damage. This could stack infinitely, ending many of his matches when the enemy Legion Commander just walks over and one-shots everything.

There was the ever-present chance that it wouldn't work like that in this world however, just as Slark's Essence Shift hadn't. There was also the actual 'Duel' to consider... Would it force the enemy to duel? Or would he need to organise a proper duel every time he needed to use the ability? If so, it'd be useless, as no one would be willing to fight him on even grounds, even the dumbest arrogant braggarts knew of his name at this point, and knew well enough to stay clear. A good pick, but not one he'd be relying on.

Next pick is Lifestealer, an insane cannibalistic zombie-dude whose abilities are all based on, well, stealing the enemies life. Such abilities would basically make Michael immortal as every attack he dealt would heal him a percentage of the damage. The only caveat is the fact that he may or may not be required to eat people to make it work... Yeah, no chance, and that's not even considering the Xenomorph chest burst thing he's got going on.

Lina, Crystal Maiden's sister and a powerful Fire Mage. Her abilities were incredible to Michael, Dragon Slave and Light Strike Array were strong AOE fire strikes that'd wipe out anyone caught in them, and her passive, Fiery Soul, would grant stacking attack and movement speed every time he cast a spell, this would synergies well with his current abilities. Last was her ultimate called Laguna Blade, which was literally just a huge bolt of lightning that'd fuck up anything hit by it... Even in the game it felt like it had an impact, so he couldn't imagine how strong it would be outside of it. She was a better pick than her sister, not that he was playing favourites...

Lycan, a dude who can turn into a kick-ass giant wolf and tear shit up. His abilities are Summon Wolves which does what you think. Howl, which reduces nearby enemies attack speed and armour. Feral Impulse, which passively increases his and his allies attack damage and health regen. And his ultimate, ShapeShift, which allows him to turn into a big ass wolf, run fast, and hit hard.

Marci, who Michael wasn't really familiar with as she was a new hero. He remembered her abilities were Dispose, which was like martial arts move when she threw the enemy over herself? Or like a pile drive? Rebound, that allowed her to leap off of an ally or enemy like Mario or something. SideKick, which buffed herself and one ally. And Unleash, which basically gave her a Super Saiyan mode from what he remembered... God that was an annoying and overpowered character. She was good if he wanted to pick a monk sort of character...?