Aghanim’s Labyrinth: Tips and Tricks

Rohan

Rohan

Learn from the best: The best Tips for Aghanim’s Labyrinth. Take down the Primal Beast with some clever, some cheesy strats.

Alright! Are you ready to start your Aghanim's Labyrinth run? Are you prepared to get those valuable battle bass points and also brag to your friends? Here are some of the most common tips and tricks. These tips and tricks will help you perfect your playstyle to win Aghanim's Labyrinth. You can check out Esports.gg's Aghanim's Lab Guide hub here.

Slacks Circle-clutching rooms

Get the mob to follow you around. Heroes that can use abilities freely while kiting are best for the Slacks Circle.
Get the mob to follow you around. Heroes that can use abilities freely while kiting are best for the Slacks Circle.

The Slacks Circle is the circle of life and you need to be able to do this.

SirActionSLacks

The Slacks circle is very simple. You get the enemy to attack you by drawing aggro. But don't stand in one place, you need to move around to keep kiting them behind you. The Slacks Circle is best done by certain heroes. Heroes that can just throw spells without turning around or wasting time. Choose a hero (like Queen of Pain) who can just kite the enemy while running around in circles and still dealing damage. Almost every Labyrinth game comes down to one player clutching the room, so mastering this technique is crucial.

Magical Damage vs Physical and Armor

Aghanim's Labyrinth enemies had giant health pools last year. This year they have high armor in this game mode. So Right-click damage items don't deal as much damage as they did last year. AOE Magical damage heroes with quick usable spells, the 'fire and forget spells' are best for this year's Labyrinth games. Choose a hero that can deal magic damage and without having to spend a lot of time doing it. Quick Fire and forget spells allow you to kite the enemy while also dealing damage.

Last year all the enemies had gigantic health pools. This year, it's not the same. They have huge armor pools. So items like Satanic or other right-click damage don't deal enough damage. Most heroes have very low (or even zero) magical resistance so picking heroes that deal massive magical damage is the way to go.

Fire and Forget heroes!

Queen of Pain is one of the best heroes (Fire & Forget + Magical).
Queen of Pain is one of the best heroes (Fire & Forget + Magical).

Pick a hero that can fire spells and forget about it. This is the best way to synergize Slacks Circles and to deal damage at the same time.

Speed - The Most important attribute this year

The faster they move the less damage they are going to take.

After magical damage, Speed is the most important feature this year. Why is Speed important? Well, simply put, it allows you to not get hit. Kiting the enemy is crucial this year, especially because there are many that can simply 1-hit kill you. Speed is life! If you have a doubt on what to build, make something that makes you speedy!

Starting Items in Aghanim Labyrinth

The starting items in Labyrinth are extremely important. These items will either help you get through the initial rooms easily or if you don't get the right items, it's time to restart.

  • Boots of Speed
  • Tranquil Boots if you spend your time. (Also helps regen as you run around in circle)
  • Which item to buy next? Wind Lace! Gives you speed, helps you run around in circles kiting the enemy.

Which Rooms to Choose in Labyrinth?

Always go for the Trap rooms
Always go for the Trap rooms

Always go for Traps

Trap Rooms are the best. They give you elite shards, money and two chests. The chests can be filled with hearts, money or items. Especially at the higher difficulties, you always take the trap rooms.

Traps are scary but always go for them. They give you elite shards, money for completing them (bonus if you do it without taking damage) and 2 chests filled with hearts, money, or items. There's a lot on offer with Trap rooms and they are often the correct choice.

Do you want Heart/Gold/items?

In the harder difficulties, you should always go for the Heart or Gold in the higher difficulties. The level 1-2 neutral items are just ... not that impressive.

Is the Room a Hard/Easy one?

There are two types of Trap rooms: Hard and easy. The decision to choose a Hard or easy room depends on Gold, Hearts or items. These decisions are especially important at the higher levels of the game. At the lower levels, prioritizing Hearts and Gold is often the right choice.

In the early game, Gold is great. Even if you have full hearts you can just pick them up and bounce them to the next room. At the higher levels, Grand Magus and Apex, level 1 hearts are preferable. Hearts provide you with a better survival chance. Neutral item rooms drop tomes, which can often mean a Level 6 ultimate in a hard room.

Do you use Tomes instantly or hold on to them?

Tomes give more XP if used at a later stage in the game.
Tomes give more XP if used at a later stage in the game.

Tomes give you more XP when you save your tomes at the end of the game. So the question is, should you use the tome early in the game or later?

It makes sense to use the tomes early, before the first boss. You get to around level 9, and that helps you to take on the first boss.

Modifiers

Which Modifiers to avoid in Aghanim's Labyrinth?

Some modifiers make rooms incredibly difficult to play and some make them really easy.

SirActionSLacks

Modifiers to avoid:

  • Surge
  • Chilling Touch

This guide focuses on you being able to kite the enemy mobs around in Slacks Circles. Well, what is the one thing that will prevent you from kiting the enemy? Modifiers like Surge and Chilling touch allow the mob to catch up and slow you, countering your gameplay.

Last stand

Last Stand: All enemies gain increased attack speed at low health for a short time (200AS)
Vampiric: Enemy Captains gain lifesteal from all damage at low health for a short time

Some Last Stand rooms like the Drow Ranger can be a living hell as they can hit you from range. A single hiht can often mean you are dead anyway, but in some rooms, it can be extremely frustrating as well. With a vampiric aura, some enemies gain lifesteal from all damage at low health, the boss mobs simply won't die if they hit anyone.

Which Modifiers to Choose?

Glimmer and Meteoric can be one of the easier rooms to handle as going invisible or blinking can interrupt big attacks. Many of the big bosses take some time to charge their attacks.

The mobs do not attack if they are invisible. So getting the dust allows you to deal massive damage which makes these rooms super simple.

SirActionSLacks

In some rooms bosses going invis and blinking (meteoric) can cause lots of problems. But in some other rooms, these same modifiers can interrupt bosses from channeling their abilities. The Glimmer modifier is one of the easier ones to counter as all you need is a Dust of appearance (80 gold).

How to Eliminate enemies without having them hit you?

Cheeeeeeeese

Usually in Dota 2, creeps will aggro to you if you hit them. Surrounding creeps will also agro to you if you hit an enemy. But if you cast spells from a range, they will not aggro to you. Some heroes are really good at dealing magical damage without drawing enemy aggro:

  • Sniper Shrapnel
  • Undying Tombstone
  • Phoenix Fire Spirits and more.

Spawn 'em and lose 'em

When units spawn in the room they will see you and aggro to you. One way to cheese them is to go up the stairs in the room. If the mob doesn't have a vision of your high ground, it will stop below and you can then use your spells from afar, similar to the previous section.

Use their Always Aggro to your advantage

Much like some creeps, some mobs will aim at your units, drawing attention away from you.
Much like some creeps, some mobs will aim at your units, drawing attention away from you.

Boss Mobs, such as Alchemist don't lose sight of you. But they are programmed to always attack the thing closest to them. If you are on the high ground and there is something else near them, the Boss Mobs will always attack these units first. But you have to be far away and on the high ground for this to work.

Aghanim's Labyrinth Shops Tips

For each round, there is a chance of a bonus room where you can make a neat deal. Shop rooms are useful as they help you get levels or runes or talents. Here are some tips on what to choose for these shop rooms.

  • Warlock: You get a skill book, a tome, or a special “do something good when hit” book. Tomes are good for getting the levels, or you could also choose the special book for skills.
  • Slark: There are very few times when you will make it to the end and I don't have the items I need I'm not trying to sound cool or something, quite the opposite. I’m bad and the healing pots are very very useful in the early part of the game. I would almost say, never take this but some heroes have great in-built heals so if you can heal yourself reliably, maybe it's worth it for you. I don't do it tho 1 life is 1000 gold and sometimes a healing pot is a free life. 
  • Doom: If you are confident you can make it to the next Roshan, even if you do die, a life is only 1k (900 if you have the discount) so even if you need to buy a life you still get an extra 500-600 gold which is great. Even better if you have a magic lamp the life kill won't even work, so everyone in your party gets a free 1500 gold when you wait for the cooldown. Might work with the precious egg too never seen it tho.
  • Tinker! Always take the right-click range nerf to extend the cast range. Cast range is great for all heroes so nab it. 
  • Tiny: Now the important ones: Tinys. there's a big Tiny and a small tiny. NEVER take the big tiny. He permanently caps your movement speed at 350. You cannot raise it by any means. Movement speed is extremely important in this game. This is for meme tank builds is apprentice and magician only. Only consider this as void spirit, QOP or undying.
  • On the other hand, the 'Tiny Tiny' is very helpful. He gives you movement speed, allowing you to kite the enemy around. Also, fun fact, it takes a percentage of your max HP away, so if you drop all your items before talking to tiny, he takes much much less away from you making this even more broken.

Tips Before Entering Rooms

  1. Blink heroes or the blink dagger can be used in some rooms before you turn into a donkey, allowing you to massively skip. Very good especially for the final traps, sad part, only 1 of you gets this. 
  2. The 3 and wait.
    Patience is key. The Three Firebreathers look easy but are often very difficult. Take your time to watch the pattern and then move.
  3. Announce when you're hitting a button.
    If 1 person does it all people will be aware for the run it's worth it. Buttons can be stepped on, and stayed on, only when you walk off does the spear reset, which makes many of these puzzles pretty easy.
  4. Abilities.
    As a courier, you get a random ability, the hooks are the most important ones. Getting the pudge hook and going first is really helpful as you can hook all your allies ahead. The Hookshot guy should go last as he can hook to the person who made it through. You can also hook to treasures, so you can skip a large part of the run. The player with invulnerabilitiy should go in the middle, preferably third. You can finish the room and then double back to repel an ally on the hard part.

These are some of the most important tips and tricks before you head into a game of Aghanim's Labyrinth. So get on your PC and start a game of Dota 2 to earn some battlepass points and levels.

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