Dota 2

Tidehunter

● Strengthmeleemagical damageInitiatorDurableDisablerNuker

Stalking ahead of his team, Tidehunter is always on the lookout for the right time to strike. When the moment comes, he unleashes his massive and devastating ultimate, paving the way for his allies to slay their stunned enemies.

Pos 3 — Offlane
Win rate
49.4%
Pick rate
14.2%
Armor / MS
2.5 / 300
Range
150
Plan matchupRole builds

Abilities

Official ability data from Valve
GushQ⏱ 12s◆ 100
Summons a gush of water to damage an enemy unit, reducing their movement speed and armor.
Kraken ShellW⏱ 30s◆ 45
Thickens Tidehunter's hide to passively block a portion of any incoming physical attack damage. Reduced block amount versus creeps. The hide also removes negative status effects if the damage taken crosses a threshold. Can be activated to double the block amount at the cost of 40% movement speed. Lasts 4s. DISPEL TYPE: Strong Dispel
Anchor SmashE⏱ 7 / 6 / 5 / 4s◆ 40 / 45 / 50 / 55
Tidehunter swings his mighty anchor to attack and deal bonus damage to nearby enemies and reduce their attack damage. The radius of Anchor Smash is Tidehunter's attack range plus 225 units.
Mechanics notes (2)
  • • Anchor Smash works on all Ancient creeps except for Roshan.
  • • Damage done by Anchor Smashes triggered by Kraken Shell Cleanse is considered reflected damage. Reflected damage does not provide any lifesteal and cannot be reflected.
•
Dead in the Water⏱ 35s◆ 110
Tidehunter attaches a heavy anchor to an enemy hero. The hero is leashed while attached to the anchor. Attempting to move more than 350 units away from the anchor forces the hero to 100 move speed, dragging the anchor behind them. The anchor can be destroyed with 4 hero attacks.
RavageR⏱ 150 / 145 / 140s◆ 125 / 225 / 325
Slams the ground, causing tentacles to erupt in all directions, damaging and stunning all nearby enemy units.
Mechanics notes (2)
  • • Ravage will hit invisible units.
  • • Ravage waves move outwards at a speed of 725.
•
Leviathan's CatchInnate
Whenever an enemy hero is killed by Tidehunter or dies under his debuffs, a fish appears in their place; Tidehunter can eat the fish to permanently gain 3 Health, 2 Attack Range, and 1 Bonus Damage Block. Tidehunter eats a free fish every time he reaches an even hero level.
Mechanics notes (2)
  • • Enemies can destroy the fish.
  • • Bonus Damage Block only applies if another source of Damage Block will be affecting the incoming physical attack.
Traits ours:Stuns & disablesInitiationHuge health poolArmor reduction

Our ratings

0–10, our judgement — every planner uses them
EarlyMidLateLaningWave clearTeamfightPickoffDisableDurabilityMobility

Aghanim's upgrades

Upgrade text from Valve · priority is ours Our recommendation
Aghanim's Sceptermedium priority
Gush: Gush becomes a ground targeted wave ability that affects enemy units in a line. Decreases cooldown.
Aghanim's Shardhigh priority
Dead in the Water — anchor lockdown on a target.

Tips & counterplay

Playing as Tidehunter

Teamfight tank. Survive the lane, then win fights with Blink-Ravage.

Laning: Gush on the enemy carry; Anchor Smash to deny and farm.

Kill combo: Gush → autos; Ravage when they commit.

Staying alive: Kraken Shell dispels stuns/DoTs; tanky base stats.

From real games (OpenDota)
  • • Most games are in the off lane (94.4%, 49.5% win rate).
  • • Phase Boots: usually done by 10 min; finishing it by 8 min wins 59.7%.
  • • Blink Dagger: usually done by 20 min; finishing it by 12 min wins 60%.
  • • Aghanim's Shard: usually done by 25 min; finishing it by 15 min wins 78.9%.
  • • Gets stronger the longer the game goes (42.5% before 20 min → 51.1% after 60 min).

Playing against Tidehunter

Generated from this hero's traits, counters and real matchups

Stuns & disables Black King Bar, Linken's Sphere or Lotus Orb. Spread out so one stun doesn't catch the whole team.

Initiation Ward their approach paths, hold Black King Bar or Aeon Disk, and stay spread.

Huge health pool Percentage damage and anti-heal (Spirit Vessel, Eye of Skadi) beat a big health pool.

Armor reduction Solar Crest and Assault Cuirass restore the armor they strip.

  • • Respect Tidehunter at Lvl 6: Ravage turns any fight.
  • • Respect Tidehunter at Blink: Five-man Ravages.
  • • Respect Tidehunter at Refresher: Double Ravage.

Items that counter it

Black King Bar Stuns & disables, InitiationGhost Scepter Armor reductionGlimmer Cape Stuns & disablesSolar Crest Armor reductionEul's Scepter of Divinity InitiationSpirit Vessel Huge health pool

Heroes that beat it

Talents

Current talents (Valve)
+1s Ravage Stun Duration
25
Anchor Smash affects buildings
Kraken Shell Cleanse triggers Anchor Smash
20
-4 Gush Armor
+90 Gush Damage
15
-15s Ravage Cooldown
+10% Anchor Smash Damage Reduction
10
+20% Gush Slow

Best items

Position 3 build Our recommendation
Starting
Early
››
Core
›››
Luxury

Power spikes

Our recommendation
Lvl 6Ravage turns any fight.
BlinkFive-man Ravages.
RefresherDouble Ravage.

Best skill build

Position 3 Our recommendation
123456789101112131415161718
Q GushQQQQ
W Kraken ShellWWWW
E Anchor SmashEEEE
R RavageRRR
T Talent★★

Counters

Strong against ours

Countered by

Weak against ours

Synergies

Great with ours

Best lane partners

Toughest lane opponents

From our matchup model, adjusted by each opponent's laning rating Our recommendation
Storm Spirit−12
Huskar−12
Anti-Mage−10
Witch Doctor−9
Shadow Fiend−8

Live stats OpenDota · 2026-10-14

Public match stats

Win rate (all ranks)
49.4%
Win rate (Divine+)
47.4%
Pick rate
14.2% of matches
Sample
585,187 picks
Pro
15 picks · 40% WR · 2.9% ban

Lane presence

off94.4% · 49.5% WR
mid3.3% · 43.9% WR
safe2.2% · 36.4% WR

Win rate by rank

Public matches per medal bracket
50.8%Herald51%Guardian50.9%Crusader49.9%Archon49.2%Legend48.6%Ancient47.4%Divine

Win rate by game length

Minutes · OpenDota parsed games
42.5%10′47.9%20′50.3%30′49.7%40′48%50′51.1%60′

Item timings

When the item is finished, and the timing that wins most (≥15 games)
ItemGamesUsualWin %Best timing
Phase Boots1,78010′49.9%≤8′ · 59.7%
Blink Dagger1,59920′51.2%≤12′ · 60%
Aghanim's Shard1,33725′53.5%≤15′ · 78.9%
Vladmir's Offering79315′55.7%≤12′ · 66.1%
Aghanim's Scepter69730′60.4%≤15′ · 77.8%
Shiva's Guard15630′68.6%≤30′ · 69.8%
Arcane Boots7610′40.8%≤8′ · 43.8%
Ghost Scepter7230′58.3%≤30′ · 66.7%
Pipe of Insight6630′47%≤25′ · 55%
Lotus Orb6530′52.3%≤25′ · 65%

What players actually buy

Most purchased items by game phase
Start
Early
Mid
Late

Best real matchups

Head-to-head win rate, ≥40 games
Faceless Void47 games63.8%
Earthshaker44 games61.4%
Necrophos102 games57.8%
Sniper97 games56.7%
Mars248 games54.4%

Worst real matchups

Head-to-head win rate, ≥40 games
Huskar67 games38.8%
Witch Doctor75 games41.3%
Puck170 games43.5%
Chaos Knight50 games44%
Legion Commander51 games45.1%

Recent pro & league games

Most recent league matches featuring this hero
LeagueResultK / D / ALengthDate
EPL Masters 2026 Win6 / 2 / 2159′2026-10-13
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersWin2 / 7 / 333′2026-10-13
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersLoss1 / 1 / 1037′2026-10-13
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersLoss3 / 9 / 333′2026-10-12
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersLoss0 / 3 / 117′2026-10-12
EPL Masters 2026 Win3 / 8 / 1743′2026-10-12
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersLoss1 / 3 / 2354′2026-10-12
DreamLeague Season 30 QualifiersWin3 / 13 / 1737′2026-10-11

Lore

The Tidehunter known as Leviathan was once the champion of the Sunken Isles, but his motives are as mysterious as those of his people. We all know the importance of the Drylanders' shipping lanes, how empires may rise and fall according to who controls the open water. Far less is known of the submarine lanes, and how the warring tribes of the Meranthic Diaspora have carved out habitations through endless undersea skirmishes. In the fragile treaties between the Mer and Men, we can glimpse the extent of the drowned empires, but their politics appear complex and opaque. It would seem that Leviathan tired of such petty strife, and set off on his own, loyal only to his abyssal god, Maelrawn the Tentacular. He stalks the shallows now in search of men or meranths who stray into his path, and with a particular loathing for Admiral Kunkka, who has long been his nemesis for reasons lost in the deepest trenches of the sea.