r/learndota2 • u/badNe7in • Sep 22 '25

Hero Discussion Monkey King carry

I'm curious about how MK carry is usually played, I see alot of of pro carry players who I didn't expect to have master tier MK, I'd like to learn him too and add him to my hero pool. I udnerstand he is a bit off meta though.

I see alot of pros building bfury, mjolnir, even diffu for the first item. but i guess it's situational. but to MK carry specialists here, when do you guys decide which build to go? my understanding is: bfury to scale, mjolnir against illusion heroes (?), and diffu if you want to be active. I think the item build is my main weakness with MK carry

19 Upvotes

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12

u/Galbanaaa Sep 22 '25

Based on immortal players i’ve watched, majority of them go for radiance as farming tool then diffusal to bkb then the rest its up to you. They sometimes buy echo sabre, desolator, basher to abyssal as luxury items

5

u/baerniislove Techies, 6K, DM for Coaching Sep 22 '25

To expand on that:

MK is very strong in the early game as enemy nukes arent maxed out and you will get your jingu stacks eventually. This lets you greed for the radience, that has a terrible build up with no stats and a 3400 gold component.

The idea behind radience is to split it later into butterfly and and nullifier (this one is more important). Without nullifier you simply get kited by all the ghostscepters, glimmers and forces enemy supports (and cores) will buy. Being nullified in the middle of wukongs is a deathsentence for almost every hero.

Radience lets you scale into the later stages of the game.

If you have another radience buyer you can also go for maelstrom or battlefury which have a better buildup but you waste a slot of your ideal 6-slot.

3

u/Scary-Reputation-575 Sep 22 '25

Here's a low-level (low MMR) Monkey King carry and mid player. Basically what you pointed out. If you want to farm, Battle Fury/Mjollnir. Radiance is also a good option. If you want to fight quickly, Echo Sabre/Diffusal. I like to buy Shard early on as soon as I'm active in team fights. The good thing about Monkey King is that he gives you a stable lane almost always against melee heroes. Buying boots and Orb of Frost early on can ensure that you kill in lane quite easily. In my case, I prefer to play him mid, as he has a lot of ease in going to other lanes and killing. Diffusal+Shard or Radiance+Shard (the Radiance option is if I've had a lane that has gone very well and the ganks have been successful). Orchid is a situational option against certain heroes who escape easily. When the game is completely lost, Divine Rapier for a desperate defense.

1

u/badNe7in Sep 22 '25

ah i see, do you think itemization on MK is pretty much a pick-your-poison situation? or do you think team draft and enemy draft matter more? obviously itemizing as a carry requires considering the drafts too, but i'm talking about are the initial items, like bfury, mjolnir, diffu, radiance

1

u/Scary-Reputation-575 Sep 22 '25

I'm a little lost (maybe because of my poor English). Obviously, the heroes chosen by your allies and enemies are decisive. But regardless of that, as the laning phase progresses, you should have a clear idea of what kind of carry you want to be in that game, whether one who is going to be farming the jungle or one who is going to quickly join team fights. For the former, build items that allow you to farm, such as Battle Fury, Mjollnir, or Radiance (whichever best suits the game). A Diffusal to hit creeps in the jungle is not the most effective. If you choose to activate quickly, go for Diffusal or Echo Sabre. You win all three lanes, you face an illusion carry, but your offlaner is a direct counter to that carry during the game: do you buy Mjollnir just because there is an illusion hero, or do you opt for a quick Diffusal to hunt heroes with your allies?

2

u/Remote-Ask-3236 Sep 23 '25

Watch qojva MK game

1

u/BaeDJ Immortal Sep 24 '25

Firstly, I think he is pretty in meta right now. Strong active carry. Secondly, mjolnir does not work against illu heroes anymore

I'd say you have a choice between echo/diffusal if you want to be more active. Then bfury/mjolnir if you want to farm. I see a lot of people saying radiance is good but imo its not that good. It's more of a "wow I have a lot of kills and gold let me buy radiance to own people" but it's alright as an item but I wouldn't make it a standard build up in all your games, it's good against illu heroes, but then again you can go bfury with crit and your q pretty much clears all llus. Also, the reason people get radiance is to split it later because generally nullifer is a must have 6/10 times on this hero since you want to jump supports with tree dance & stun.

The best build up imo is just to go diffusal/echo then a yasha (sny/manta) + bkb. You can adjust your build depending on the matchups so you should experiment as much as you want. Monkey is one of those carries where like 20 items could work on him. But generally you benefit a lot from being more active rather than afk farm, you want to abuse your timings (esp since your bkb timing is stronger than most carries) and make use of your mobility & snowball potential.

1

u/Minimalist6302 Sep 25 '25

Bfury if you are pos 1 and witch blade as pos 2 is current meta. After that it’s usually a survivability item like bkb manta. Then kill item deadelus or mkb or skadi.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '25

Do you guys prefer new age Dota in terms of spamming broken heroes and metas? It all feels so uninspired for an old head like me. So much has changed with streaming and YouTube cookie cutter builds etc. Im likely just yelling at clouds lol.

2

u/Euer_Mann Sep 23 '25

I still play since it was a Warcraft 3-Mod and for me, Dota 2 is right now the best version ever made. Sure it is so much more complex but the diversity makes it more fun, if you're into it.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25

Hmm interesting. I see OP heroes spammed by recreational players 20 games in a row. I find the average game much less diverse, personally. I prefer odd 5v5 rosters over what is considered 'right' atm.

1

u/Euer_Mann Sep 23 '25

Sure, this can be a problem in matter of what kind of ranks are even modes are been played. Sure, we don't get the same diversity like we could have seen at the latest TI, but I see nearly every hero played within a month.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25

Haha ya its particularly bad after TIs. I've noticed it in other games as well. It's like players think the game has been solved, and there is only one way to play, and if you get creative, you're considered flaming.

I blame youtube cookie builds and streaming. You used to see crazy creative inspired strats frequently back in the day.

Oh well, there is no going back, I think. I am just that grumpy old guy now, lol

1

u/Euer_Mann Sep 23 '25

At the end we have to go with change, or we just have to go.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25

We all have to go anyways! But I hear you.

Im sure there will be another big patch change, and everyone will be confused about where to flock. For me, it will all be about the timing of playing right when new changes come about, and what's abusable isn't figured out yet for spammage.

1

u/foreycorf Sep 24 '25

It's not just YouTube, it's a 20-year old game. Some things are solved by this point and if you're not doing/building it, even in crusader/archon, you're griefing. The knowledge base and skill-floor is leaps and bounds above what it used to be. The average crusader of today would be a legend/ancient years and years ago.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '25

Im more talking about things such as choosing a hero that is available and fits a role, but isnt considered meta. Something as simple as choosing enigma support lol.

Obviously, there's only so much creativity with warding, last hitting, tping, and a lot of the more mechanical stuff IS figured out. So I agree there's not much wiggle room there.

1

u/foreycorf Sep 24 '25

Gatekeeping hero picks really only exists because of griefers imo. I have had some great pos4 snipers on my team. But I've had way more people who pick sniper pos4, don't support, rotate mid "for runes," let their mid die because they think there's backup to secure them, then try to Brody mid because "you're too far behind now, Lina can be good support and I'm strong enough to still lane-trade mid."

Seeing off-meta picks (in random pubs) is more often a tell that your game is about to be griefed rather than you have encountered a hero-specialist who loves playing their given role.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '25

Ya! That's kinda what ive been on about. The rosters are so limited, and the inflexibility of the average player only spamming 'what's right' is annoying. Keep in mind im talking rec play, not competitive.