10. Troll / Knights
Primary Troll / Knights build — 6 Knights + 2 Trolls + Spectre
One of the most common builds you can use that is consistently strong is Troll / Knights. You can say this is one of the go-to builds of most players. Not only that this composition easy to play, but it is also relatively versatile. Trolls help with the offense while the Knights help with the defense; altogether, you have a balance of both.
Troll / Knights:
- Tanky, beefy boys (and girl)
- Good damage dealers
- Has excellent utility (heals, shields, slows)
- Versatile
Majority of what makes this composition tanky are the Knights in front, Chaos Knight, Omnknight, and Abaddon; they have high HP and have decent armor on top of the Alliance bonus they give. Not only that, but this composition also consists of Healers (Dazzle and Omniknight), which adds sustainability to the build. Not to mention, they also have a unit that can give shields to units— Abaddon.
They deal a ton of damage and have the best utilities:
- Omniknight can heal an ally and damage enemies at the same time
- Abaddon can shield an ally and damage enemies at the same time
- Batrider can slow enemies' attack speed
- Luna can deal AOE damage with her physical attacks
- Chaos Knight has a single target stun ability and deals much damage with his physical attacks.
- Dazzle(when 3 stars); on top of his heal skill, he also can keep your allies alive for 5 extra seconds even after receiving a killing blow (are you kidding me?)
This build is also versatile; after balancing the defense and offense of your Troll / Knights, you can add any suitable units that may help you further crush your opponents. At this point, this is where you can get as creative as you want to be, maybe add a Spectre for more burst potential, a Tidehunter or Kunkka for AOE stuns, or a Doom to disable a unit from casting spells.
So if you want to have fun and make your opponents cry with the immortal units you have, then Troll / Knights build is a way to go. Keep in mind that positioning is crucial for this build.
9. Brawny / Dragon
Initial Brawny / Dragon build — 4 Brawny + 2 Dragons + 2 Savage
If you thought Knights were beefy because of their physical and magical resistance, here come the Brawny boys (and girl) with their massive HPs. Each Brawny unit gains +10 maximum health for each kill your Brawny team has and gets multiplied by the star level of your Brawny units. It's a fun-to-play build and one of the versatile compositions as well.
Brawny / Dragons:
- Big beefy boys (and an old lady on a dragon)
- A no-brainer to build
- Decent AOE damage dealers
- Versatile
So this composition might be a no-brainer to build but has its risk. Making a complete Brawny team is a high-risk, high-reward thing. Fundamentally, you want to get your Brawny units early in the game and have them accumulate as many kills as possible. Once you've done that successfully you'll snowball the game most of the time.
Your Brawny units will virtually be unstoppable and overwhelm their enemies with their Herculean bodies. To put things in numbers, each of your Brawny units may have— let's say, for example, you get 100 kills on all your Brawny units combined, equal to +1000, +2000, or +3000 HP ( depending on the level of the Brawny unit). It's like you have extra units, but you don't— you have big beefy, ripped, shredded units; it makes it look like your enemies have a new Alliance called Scrawny.
Away from that, the Brawny / Dragon build is another versatile composition. Once you get the core units in (Juggernaut, Beastmaster, Bristleback, Snapfire, and any Dragon unit), adding a Spirit Breaker is a great choice to help with disables. At this point, again, you can get as creative as you can, adding Hunter Alliance, Mage Alliance, or just adding the "good stuff" (Doom, Spectre, Lone Druid, Mirana, Viper, Axe, etc.)
If you want to make your enemies look small and stampede through them, Brawny / Dragons is a must. Remember that it has risks; RNG will always be one of your enemies.
8. Assassin / Rogue
Initial Assassin / Rogue build — 4 Rogues + 3 Assassins
Do you want to go to the backline and kill those squishy units fast? Then the Assassin / Rogue build is your best bet. This build has high physical damage output and can deal with those pesky backlines you can't get to with your typical builds— these assassins will take care of it.
Rogues:
- Evasive boys ("Can't touch this")
- Has good utility
Assassins:
- High physical damage output
- Can kill enemy backlines
- Can prevent healing
Each composition has its strengths; for this particular build, it is super strong against most physical damage-based teams. As for magical damage teams, it will be quite a challenge for this build, depending on how the game goes. However, this build still crushes most teams and is super reliable.
Rogues are powerful against physical attack-based builds; every physical attack evades they do, they gain damage. With their evasive capabilities against physical attacks, they can manage to tank for quite a while before the enemy could get to your other units. Sometimes you'll be surprised to check that one of your Rogue units has a +240 attack which means it has dodged 12 physical attacks; that's a lot of value.
While the Rogues take care of providing sustainability and dishing out damage for the units in front, the Assassins come into play with even more damage and take out the backline, then finish off the ones in front. Even healers won't survive this disgusting build.
Getting the four Rogues on the board as early as possible is a good start for this build; it will dominate most builds easily. Then start adding Assassins to the composition; you may add Phantom Assassin and Ember Spirit, then eventually get a Pirate Hat for the Swordsman Alliance bonus, which will help with more burst potential. However, it is up to you which Assassins you will add; Queen of Pain can also be part of the build to add a Poisoner Alliance. You can be as creative as you can.
Assassin / Rogue is a way to go if most of your enemies are going for physical builds; it'll make you go "Can't touch this!" against those. However, Mages can counter them, but you can always counter them by picking up magic resistance items early on if you foresee strong Mage builds contesting for the win.
7. Mage / Spirit
Initial Mage / Spirit build — 3 Mage + 3 Spirit
Easily one of the builds with a few counters— the Mage / Spirit build. This composition is the Bermuda Triangle of DotA Underlords. Anything that gets caught in the triangle will pretty much be gone. This build is quite a scary one to fight.
Mage / Spirits:
- The Bermuda Triangle
- High damage output (AOE)
- Good utility skills
- Disables and slows
Mages, when played well, might be the strongest Alliance in DotA Underlords, more powerful when combined with the Spirit brothers. Its most significant strength is the Delta Slam ability of the Spirit Alliance. Anyone caught in the triangle is dealt 200 magic damage for each Spirit, totaling 600 magic damage on top of the 35% more magic damage the enemy receives from the Mage Alliance. That's a ton of damage.
Not to mention, the triangle also applies a debuff on the enemies caught inside of it. Each Spirit has a different elemental effect:
- Earth Spirit: silences affected enemy unit for 3 seconds
- Storm Spirit: disarms affected enemy unit for 3 seconds
- Ember Spirit: sets the affected enemy unit on fire for 3 seconds (The unit loses 2.5% of their Max Health every second)
- Void Spirit: breaks affected enemy unit for 3 seconds (disables passive abilities)
Simply put, anyone caught in the triangle can't do anything for 3 seconds, and once they get to move, they eventually die from your other spells and auto-attacks.
Although this build is solid, it is not as easy to execute, especially if the RNG Gods don't bless you. A way to play this build is to start with units that will sustain your HP in the early game (build into Crystal Maiden, Lich, and Storm Spirit if you can, together with a decent tank). Create interest, and enough gold, then start rolling to get those 2-star Spirits in there, then transition when you have the Spirit Alliance going. You can add duplicate spirits for more triangles.
Do you want your enemies to witness the Bermuda Triangle? Do this build and let them see the power of the Spirit Brothers.
6. Heartless / Warrior / Hunter
Primary Heartless / Warrior / Hunter build — 4 Heartless + 3 Warrior + 3 Hunter + 2 Vigilant + 1 Demon
This next one is my favorite, consisting of 3 main Alliances— Heartless / Warrior / Hunter. It is a strong build that can win against any composition when played well. It can also build into many Alliances with the correct items and a little RNG. It's good in all stages of the game, from early to late game.
Heartless / Warrior / Hunters:
- Easy to build
- Good utility
- Balanced offense and defense
- Diverse units (viable even when units get contested)
This build is first-class because it has a balance of offense and defense. Warriors help with sustainability, and Pudge can hook the furthest enemy unit for your units to focus on (it's an instant pick-off). At the same time, Kunkka provides the stun and Slardar for the minus armor. Moreover, the Hunters provide massive damage for the whole team, while the Heartless Alliance minus armor helps with it, not to mention that Vengeful Spirit can cast her spell and give even more minus armor. It's hell for your enemies.
This team is one of my go-to builds since it's so diverse and fun to play. You can start with the Warrior Alliance with Tusk, Slardar, and Kunkka to an eventual shift into Pudge, then add another Heartless unit to the board for a Warrior / Heartless Alliance combo. Slowly adding more units to the board as you level up, you can add 2 additional Heartless units to increase the Alliance level and provide more minus armor.
At Level 7, you can already complete the whole build with Terrorblade as one of the Hunters, and from there— you can be as creative as possible. You can add or replace Kunkka for Tidehunter for the Scaled Alliance, an Abaddon for the Fallen Alliance (if you're owning your enemies, you can add Omniknight together with him), or add or replace a Hunter with Medusa. If you're lucky, you can pick up a Crown of Antlers item to easily add the Hunter Alliance into the equation. You'll pretty much be unstoppable if you get those units in.
This build is for you if you're one of those players who like diversity with units. It's fun, and it's easy, it's strong; It's all in there.
5. Shaman / Healers
Primary Shaman / Healers build — 6 Shaman + 4 Healer + 2 Savage + 2 Summoner
This team is one of the builds that when you snowball hard, you become a ruthless beast. No one can stop you with the buffed Black Dragon scorching every one of your enemies with its splash damage and your Shaman units summoning and healing by its side.
Shaman / Healers:
- Wow, it seems none of my units are dying
- Immense healing powers
- Can snowball early to mid-game
I wasn't a fan of this build, but it changed my mind when I played it. Shaman / Healers can snowball well if the RNG Gods give you the favor. In the early to mid-game, Shamans can give you a good head start and the advantage of getting the gold interest sooner rather than later. If you're lucky and can level up to 6 and grab yourself 6 Shamans right off the bat, you'll keep getting bigger from there.
What makes this composition strong is the Black Dragon you summon when you get 6 Shamans. The Shaman units buffs up your Black Dragon, each of them giving a different one:
- Beastmaster— gives attack speed to it (it goes HAM)
- Enchantress— gives it a chance to slow attackers' attack speed (makes them lazy)
- Lone Druid— creates a Sprit Link with it, both life-stealing for either damage
- Magnus— gives it a chance to push melee enemies away when attacked (can't touch this)
- Nature's Prophet— gives it a burst spell that hits 3-5 enemies
- Treant Protector— gives allied units around it armor and HP regeneration
Combine these 6 Shamans with 2 more Healers, and you'll make your enemies yield. The Healers will take care of the sustaining, and the Shamans will cause as much chaos and damage with their summons and spells.
Keep in mind that this build is not always a guarantee, it still depends on your RNG, but if it is in your favor, you'll snowball with this composition at any time. Just pick up magic resistance items when there are strong enemies with Mages.
4. Summoner / Troll / Poisoner
Initial Summoner / Troll / Posioner build — 4 Summoner + 2 Troll + 2 Rogue + 3 Poisoner
In my opinion, this is one of the underrated builds yet really powerful. This build can overwhelm enemies with the summons. They'll just get swarmed by units, and then you have won the fight the next thing you know. It's good against most compositions and is a fun build to play as well.
Summoner / Troll / Poisoners:
- It makes the board a zoo
- Has the summons to help tank damage
- Attack speed slow
- Fun to play
This build can make the board a zoo. Summons will be everywhere to the point that some of your units may not be able to attack because of the crowd; nonetheless, it still pays off. This build is compelling because of its summons; it can help you last longer in fights to the point that you might even win a battle without any allied heroes alive. The summoned units alone are substantially more overwhelming with the Summoner Alliance buff and with 2 Alliance levels.
The Troll Alliance plays a particular role in this build, they give your units attack speed, and you've guessed it, the summons gain attack speed as well; it's insanely strong considering you will be summoning multiple units with this build. On top of that, the Poisoner Alliance will increase damage output and decrease enemies' attack speed, making their units harder to kill your summons.
As for the 2 Rogue units, those two will help with tanking and provide minus armor (Alchemist) for your summons to take advantage of. These are the 6 core units that are the best for this build. From here on out, you'll have to add more good units to the build to get that straight victory.
Adding a Tidehunter is excellent for disabling, extra tanking, and the added Scaled Alliance. Doom can also be in for the extra control and the added Brute Alliance. I like to add Omniknight and Abaddon after having these 6 units; they help make the fight last longer for your summons to finish off the fight. Be it as it may, sometimes it's just preference or situational.
This build is for you if you want to have good fun and create chaos with your summons. I sometimes call this build the zoo build.
3. Swordsman / Assassin / Warrior
Initial Swordsman / Assassin / Warrior build — 3 Swordsman + 3 Assassin + 3 Warrior
This build is the One Punch Man of DotA Underlords. This build has the most potent physical burst damage in the game. You'll have your enemies sliced into half with this build. This build is particularly tricky to pull off, but it feels gratifying and fun to win and see your enemies melt when you do.
Swordsman / Assassin / Warriors:
- One-Punch Man
- One Hit Delete
- Where did my enemies go?
The star player of this composition is Ember Spirit; his ability, Sleight of Fist, together with the Swordsman buff, can deal masses of damage; he alone can single-handedly wipe many enemies. Although strong, this is not the most straightforward build to pull off. Level 1 Swordsman Alliance buff is good, but level 2 Swordsman Alliance buff is INSANE! You must get two Tier 4 units to complete the level 2 Swordsman Alliance.
On the bright side, you can complete the level 2 Alliance of Swordsman by getting an item called Pirate Hat, which allows you to add the Swordsman Alliance to a unit. Having one of those will make it easy for you to complete the Alliance, while having two will make it much easier, giving you more room for better units.
Start with the Warrior Alliance with Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, or Bounty until you're in a comfortable spot to add in the other units. On item rounds where Tier 3 items are available, always get the Pirate Hat or roll if it isn't available in the initial offer. If you don't get any, you can always risk getting the two Tier 4 units or transition into adding the "good stuff" in your build.
This build is not just about Ember Spirit, though. The composition is strong and even more impressive with a higher level Ember Spirit; a 3-star Ember Spirit with the Swordsman buff will wreak havoc on the board. Adding a Battlefury or a Ristul Circlet (if running demons) as his item can also dramatically amplify the damage he makes, making him the One Punch Man of DotA Underlords. Kah-Pow!
2. 6 Warriors
Initial 6 Warrior build — 6 Warrior + 2 Scaled + 1 Demon
If you thought having 3 Warriors provides enough tanking, imagine 6 different ones with different skill sets. Here's another of those beefy boys build— 6 Warriors. This build will dominate most physical attack builds like Assassins, Hunters, Savages, etc. These husky boys will outlast your enemies and destroy them slowly with their physical attacks and spells.
6 Warriors:
- Beefy boys
- Defensive
- Easy to maintain
A way to play 6 Warriors is getting Hobgen (High Damage Dealer) as your Underlord; he will do most of the damage while your Warriors tank through all the enemies' damage. The longer Hobgen survives— the better your odds of winning the fight.
Getting the level 1 Warrior Alliance gives your Warriors a +10 Armor which will help you in the early game. Adding more Warrior units like a duplicate 2-star Tusk, Slardar, or Kunkka will help with offense and provide more sustainability for the team. If you can pick up a Spectre and get her to 2 stars, she will be an excellent addition to help with the mid-game.
Get in a steady position with your interest until you can level up and roll for the Tidehunter at Level 6 or above. Once 6 Warriors get completed, it's best to go Level 7 to add the Spectre together with the 6 beefy boys. Spectre helps provide burst and damage with your team, so you won't heavily rely on Hobgen.
From here, you can get creative and add a Troll Warlord and pair it with a Shadow Shaman to get the Troll Alliance buff; it will help you ensure victory.
If you're not into getting too diverse with your units, 6 Warriors is a good build for you. However, RNG and unit pool will still be your friend when deciding which build to use.
1. 6 Fallen
Primary 6 Fallen build — 6 Fallen + 4 Heartless + 3 Hunter + 1 Demon
If we're talking about overpowered builds, this has to be the most overpowered of them all— 6 Fallen. These boys and girls have 2 lives; what more can you want after having your units revived after being killed?
6 Fallen:
- Can buff and heal the whole team
- Can revive once in the fight
- How does your enemy win against this?
- Versatile
By far, Fallen has to be the most overpowered Alliance and build when executed. Although this build is superb, it is the hardest to build; it requires you to get a Tier 5 unit to complete it. However, it always pays off when you can.
The biggest strength of this composition in the early to mid-game is the buff and heal your Fallen units provide to the team when they die. Although your units won't revive yet with the level 1 Fallen Alliance, the buff alone has a lot of value. Level 2 Fallen Alliance will give your opponents hell, having your dying units buff and heal the team while getting revived. That's ridiculous!
When going for a complete Fallen build, many players will go for the Hunter / Heartless variation to help them get through the rounds and eventually complete the 6 Fallen build. Picking up a Pudge will help with tanking and a Drow Ranger to add with the Hunters and Heartless. Not to mention, picking up those 2 units will eventually complete 4 Heartless when you get Death Prophet.
If you're lucky and get a Crown of Antlers, it will be easier for you to get the Hunter Alliance going. That said, going for the Hunter / Heartless variation is a more stable way to go if going for the 6 Fallen build. Another variation requires Mages, but that's another story.
