Dota Underlords is all about putting together a solid team composed of heroes that complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Heroes are grouped into Alliances and receive various bonuses when fighting alongside other characters that share the same traits. All of these bonuses can be useful under the right circumstances. However, some are definitely better than others. Relying entirely on a single Alliance is often a risky strategy, but doing so can sometimes work in your favor.
With that in mind, we’ve decided to rank all the Alliances in Dota Underlords based on their standalone effectiveness. Since every hero has at least two traits, you’ll inevitably start unlocking additional bonuses even if you only focus on gathering heroes from just a single Alliance. We’ve taken this into account when coming up with the ranks.
Other important factors include the number of heroes found in each alliance, their tier, how easy it is to acquire Alliance bonuses throughout the various stages of the game, and of course, the power of their bonuses. Alliances are ranked alphabetically within each tier.
Dota Underlords Tier List Ranked From S to D
S Tier
Assassin
Assassin heroes tend to be squishy so a common strategy is to pair them up with tankier characters. However, they also perform very well without extra help as this Alliance contains some of the strongest damage dealers in the game. The bad news is that you’ll need to unlock at least the second tier of the Assassin bonus for these heroes to be truly effective and absolutely devastating in the late game.
The good news? There are nine assassins to choose from and they pop up constantly throughout all stages of the game. Getting the second tier bonus shouldn’t be too hard. Getting the third one will make you nearly unstoppable. Provided you also manage to level up some of your heroes of course.
Global Item (Tier 3): Pocket Sand – Assassins blind enemies 1 cell away from where they land for 2 seconds (50% miss chance and 50% less mana when attacked)
Knight
The Knight Alliance is undoubtedly one of the strongest ones in Dota Underlords right now. You only need two knights to start unlocking its powerful bonus and start building towards a strong defensive strategy. Gathering a full stack of six is definitely doable towards the late game.
Gathering at least four of them to unlock the second tier of the Alliance bonus is pretty easy. Five out of the six available knights are Tier 3 and below. Two of the knights are Human and one is a Demon, so you’ll also get a couple of nice additional bonuses for gathering the full stack.
Global Item (Tier 2): Age of Chivalry: Non-Knight units gain +10% damage reduction for each alien Knight unit 1 cell away.
Warlock
Despite the recent rework that changed the Alliance bonus, warlocks are still doing very well in Dota Underlords’ current meta. Instead of healing at a constant rate like before, warlocks and their allies now heal huge chunks of damage at a time. The previous bonus was really great for supporting other Alliances but the current one seems better at keeping the warlocks themselves alive.
Once you get a full stack of these guys and have some of them at least at level 2, they’re absolutely devastating. The Warlock Alliance struggles a bit in the early game but it more than makes up for it later on once you acquire AoE powerhouses like Alchemist, Disruptor, Necrophos, and Enigma.
Global Item (Tier 1): Soul Sucking Syphon – Allied units 1 cell away from Warlocks heal for 25% of all damage caused by abilities and items.
A Tier
Elusive
The Elusive Alliance grants your units a fantastic bonus that gives them a chance to evade incoming melee attacks. The final tier of the bonus, in particular, is absolutely ridiculous. Gathering a full stack of Elusive heroes isn’t exactly easy and somewhat of a risky strategy. But getting to at least six is definitely not a problem.
Elusive units usually work best when combined with other Alliances. However, their standalone potential is not to be underestimated. Two of these heroes are also Tier 2 druids so getting that extra bonus shouldn’t be a problem in the early game.
Global Item (Tier 3): Elusive Targets – Elusive units are invisible for the first 3 seconds of a battle.
Human
The Human Alliance is a very versatile one with tons of synergy potential. The major drawback here is that although their bonus is quite powerful, it’s not very reliable. This is why you don’t see a lot of Dota Underlords players that focus entirely on this Alliance.
That said, you only need six units to achieve a full stack and there are eight humans to choose from. Getting to the final tier of the bonus is relatively easy thanks to this and you would also be getting a couple of other nice bonuses in the process. Two of the humans also count as knights while three of them are mages.
Global Item (Tier 2): Indomitable Will – Debuffs last 50% as long on Human units.
Savage
The Savage Alliance bonus is very straightforward and very powerful. You only need two Savage heroes to start benefiting from the bonus and they are easily acquirable in the first few rounds. The other great thing about the bonus is that it applies to your entire team, not just Savage heroes.
The bonus may not seem all that great at first glance. Gather at least four Savage heroes, though, and you’ll definitely notice a big difference in your team’s damage output. With a bit of luck, you’ll be able to gather the full stack by the mid-to-late game and gain an additional little bonus in the process since two of the heroes are also part of the Druid Alliance.
Global Item (Tier 2): Tooth and Claw – Savage units apply a stackable 10 damage/s bleed on attack.
Scaled
Going for Scaled units is a great way to reduce the magical damage received by your units. Which tends to be quite significant towards the late game when playing against certain compositions. Unfortunately, the Alliance only contains four heroes, two of which are Tier 4 and Tier 5, respectively.
Basing your entire strategy around Scaled units isn’t generally recommended. But having a couple of them will make a big difference as their bonus applies to the whole team. It also helps that Scaled units are very powerful on their own. Slardar perhaps less so, but Slark, Medusa and especially Tiderhunter are definitely not to be underestimated.
Global Item (Tier 3): Retaliate – Units attacking Scaled units take 80 damage/sec for 3 seconds. This timer resets each time the Scaled unit is attacked.
Troll
Individually, Troll units can hold their own pretty well and do a great job at providing support for other Alliances. Put at least two of them together on the board, however, and things start to get interesting. Gather the full stack and watch how your DPS increases substantially thanks to the powerful Troll Alliance bonus.
And not just for the trolls themselves, but also (at least partially) for your entire team. Getting the full stack can be tricky since Troll Warlord is a Tier 4 unit. But getting the first tier of the bonus is an absolute piece of cake as the three other trolls are early game heroes.
Global Item (Tier 2): Coordinated Assault – Troll units give +25 Attack Speed to allies 1 cell away.
Warrior
Warriors are simple, reliable, and benefit from a strong bonus that becomes absolutely ridiculous once you have a full stack. There are a total of ten warriors to choose from, three of which are Tier 4 so getting the full stack can be tricky. If you manage to pull it off, however, you’ll have a very powerful team on your side.
In addition to being excellent defenders, these guys aren’t too bad in the damage department either. In particular thanks to Troll Warlord and Lycan. You also get a couple of disablers, AoE and some Silence potential in the late game. In addition to all of that, gathering all the warriors will also grant you the first tiers of the Brawny, Savage, and Human Alliance bonuses, along with a Demon. Not too shabby all things considered.
Global Item (Tier 2): Unstoppable – Warriors survive for an extra 2 seconds after receiving a killing blow.
B Tier
Demon
Demon is a pretty weird Alliance as you only need one hero in order to unlock it. Adding additional demons to the team actually cancels out the bonus so you’ll generally only want one. That said, the bonus you do get for that one demon is very substantial. In addition, all five available demons are pretty powerful to begin with.
Given the fact that the bonus is so powerful and that acquiring a Demon is possible at any stage of the game, this is technically one of the strongest Alliances in Dota Underlords. Not to mention the easiest to unlock.
Global Item – None.
Dragon
Dragon is a very interesting Alliance because it’s the only one that unlocks additional abilities for its members. These heroes can fit very well in a number of team compositions but don’t really have any real synergy between themselves.
Still, this Alliance deserves its rank because the abilities unlocked by the bonus are quite powerful. Particularly in the case of Dragon Knight. The Alliance is also very easy to unlock as it only requires two members, which can easily be acquired by the mid-game.
Global Item (Tier 3): Dragon’s Hoard – Dragon units gain 1% Attack damage for every gold you own at the beginning of combat.
Druid
The Druid Alliance is perfect for players who want to gain an advantage over the competition in the early game. The problem with druids is that they aren’t particularly effective in the later game. Aside from Lone Druid, the other three heroes are fairly weak individually and become increasingly less useful once higher tier units start popping up.
However, with a full stack and a level 2 Lone Druid, this Alliance still performs pretty well throughout the game thanks to its bonus. That’s because there’s a good chance you can secure level 3 units before other players. Another nice advantage is that two of the druids are Savage so you also get a small but welcome bonus to attack damage in the process.
Global Item (Tier 2): Completing the Cycle – When a Druid dies, it heals allies 1 cell away over time for 30% of its total health for 6 seconds.
Heartless
Having a couple of Heartless units in your team is a great way of weakening the opposition. But focusing primarily on this Alliance is a bit tricky. For one, you can’t get the third tier of the bonus unless you acquire the relevant global item. Which may or may not drop.
If you do get the item, it will be very easy to amass six Heartless units and open up a ton of synergy opportunities. But that’s a pretty big if. Otherwise, you’re unlikely to get even the second tier of the bonus early on as two out of the five regular members of this Alliance don’t show up until the late game.
Global Item (Tier 2): Fall From Grace – Human units count as Heartless instead when counting Alliances.
Global Item (Tier 3): Wicked Intent – Opponent’s healing is reduced by 25% per unique Heartless unit you have.
Hunter
The Hunter Alliance contains some of the most powerful heroes in Dota Underlords. These include Medusa, Tiderhunter, and Mirana. However, you won’t be able to get to those heroes and unlock the second tier of the Alliance bonus until very late in the game. In the early stages, a team of three hunters is great for supporting other Alliances, but these guys don’t perform very well on their own because of their low health.
With a full stack, you not only get a bunch of great damage dealers but also the first tier of the Scaled bonus. Without a full stack, you get some decent units and an okay-ish bonus but that’s about it.
Global Item (Tier 3): Hunters deal 10% extra Attack Damage for each other Hunters attacking the same target.
Mage
Mages are similar to hunters in the sense that there’s a lot of damage potential here but they rely heavily on support from other Alliances. You’ll have a pretty difficult time keeping mages alive without some tanky units to soak up damage on the front line.
Mages have another major weakness. These heroes perform very poorly against compositions that have magic resistance. If you can make it until the late game and manage to gather a full stack, however, these guys can make short work of most team compositions thanks to their powerful bonus.
Global Item (Tier 3): Final Flash – Mages reset their cooldown and get full mana when below 30% health.
C Tier
Brawny
This Alliance sounds pretty good on paper until you realize 200 or even 500 extra health won’t mean too much in the great scheme of things. Granted, it can make a difference early on but this is overall still a very weak Alliance bonus compared to most of the others in Dota Underlords.
The good news is that Axe and Juggernaut are available very early on so you can unlock the first tier of the bonus and boost your defensive capabilities during the first few rounds of the match
Global Item (Tier 2): Forged in Battle – Brawny units start the round with +5- Max Health for every unit they have killed.
Demon Hunter
Demon Hunter is a great Alliance that can crush a lot of team compositions under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, the Alliance relies heavily on Demon heroes and requires that you also get the relevant global item in order to be truly effective.
When everything lines up perfectly, this Alliance is very powerful. That’s usually pretty difficult to pull off, though, so demon hunters are usually not reliable.
Global Item (Tier 1): Strange Bedfellows – Demon Hunters gain +30% Pure Damage for each unique allied Demon unit.
Inventor
Inventors are plentiful in the early game so this is often one of the first Alliances you can build your strategy around. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get a full stack and unlock the second tier of the bonus until very late in the game.
Two out of the five members of this Alliance are Tier 5 units so by then you would have ideally transitioned to something else. Usually, you’ll only be able to benefit from the first tier of the bonus, which won’t make much of a difference even in the early game.
Global Item (Tier 1): Unstable Reactor – Allied Inventors explode on death dealing 20% of their Max Health to all enemies 1 cell away.
Primordial
This Alliance isn’t half bad when you play against certain team compositions. Namely, those that use lots of melee heroes. The problem is that many of Dota Underlords’ heroes aren’t melee focused and most of the damage you have to deal with often comes from spells.
You can definitely get some use out of a full stack of Primordial units but the Alliance bonus won’t make much of a difference unless you’re very lucky and happen to disarm the right opposing heroes.
Global Item (Tier 3): Font of Creation – Primordial units spawn Eidolons on death. Eidolons are weak ranged Primordial units that don’t spawn Eidolons.
Scrappy
The second tier of the Scrappy Alliance bonus is actually pretty good but you won’t be able to unlock it until very late in the game. There’s a lot of overlap between scrappy and inventor units, which you can use to your advantage early on.
In the mid-to-late game, both these Alliances quickly become outclassed by most of the others in Dota Underlords.
Global Item (Tier 3): Check the Bodies – Scrappy units have a 20% chance of producing 1 gold when they kill an enemy.
D Tier
Blood-Bound
Until fairly recently, Blood-Bound was arguably the worst Alliance in Dota Underlords. Now, it’s still pretty bad but there’s a saving grace thanks to Big-Time Contract. The item allows players to make any hero they choose Blood-Bound, thus giving them more units to work with.
That’s not much of an improvement since there’s no guarantee the item will even drop but now you can at least attempt to build something around this Alliance. Though you probably still shouldn’t.
Global Item – None.
Deadeye
The Deadeye Alliance offers a very strong bonus but unlocking it is extremely difficult. Despite only needed two heroes to unlock it, one of them only shows up very late in the game so it’s not really something you can rely on in most matches.
If Valve decides to add more Deadeye heroes in the future, this alliance could become really good. As it stands, though, you’ll rarely get the chance to unlock its bonus.
Global Item – None.
Shaman
The old Alliance bonus for shamans was better in many scenarios as it disabled an enemy hero at the beginning of the match, albeit its randomness did make it somewhat unreliable. This new bonus is no longer random but it’s not exactly great either.
Fitting the three wildly different heroes that compose this Alliance into one cohesive team is pretty difficult as there is no real overlap between them.
Global Item (Tier 3): Shaman Pluck – Units attacking a Shaman have a 17% chance of being turned into a chicken.
- 10 Great Horror Games to Play This Halloween - October 20, 2021
- New World Leveling Guide for Beginners – How to Get to Level 60 Fast - October 18, 2021
- 15 Hybrid Games That Successfully Combined Multiple Genres - October 15, 2021