Hero Mastery

Treant Protector

A forest guardian: Living Armor blocks damage + heals an ally/tower from range, Leech Seed slows + heals, Nature's Grasp roots a lane, and Overgrowth roots the whole enemy team.

Mastery parameters

Your XP and damage per game against other Treant Protector players — average vs Top 20%. Supports are not graded on GPM.

Members only

Learning journey

1 Know the kit
2 Win the lane
3 Timing & rotations
4 Win the fights
5 Master

5 stages, each with one target from your own games and one short quiz. Make Treant Protector your mastery hero to start — progress shows on Home and Arcana.

Phase by phase

Laning: make your carry's life easy

You 30%Team 70%

Skills in lane — Pro supports max Living Armor (E) first — 94% of 395 games since patch 7.41, then Nature's Grasp (Q). First talent at level 11.
Blink → Overgrowth — Blink → Overgrowth roots the ENTIRE enemy team — a teamfight initiation that opens everything for your team.

Skills 1–7

Starting items

Boots of Speed25%
Blood Grenade25%
Smoke of Deceit15%
Sentry Ward11%
Observer Ward7%
Tango6%

Pros buy this phase

Arcane Boots62%
Tranquil Boots38%

The Hard Support's job this phase

Pull at minutes 2 & 4 to keep the lane from pushing — the single most important HS skill.
Harass the enemy offlaner whenever they step up for XP, but never abandon your carry.
Ward near the enemy pull camp; buy sentries to deward when your pulls get blocked.

Counters & weaknesses

Invisible hero

The items that shut Treant Protector down, 3 heroes that trouble it, and your answer when you play it.

Members only

Why this way? How OpenAI Five learned

One hero, one role first
OpenAI's first bot played only Shadow Fiend, only mid, until it mastered it. Stay on Treant Protector in one role before moving on.
Small, measurable rewards
OpenAI Five was rewarded for last hits and staying alive long before it understood winning. That's why each journey stage has one number to hit.
From yourself to the team
Its 'team spirit' rose over the game: early on, look after yourself; late, play for the team. Each phase's meter shows the split.
Use proven builds
OpenAI Five's builds were hand-written, not trial and error. Start from the pro build, then experiment.

Phase items: what pros buy on this hero (OpenDota). Parameters: percentiles of players on this hero (OpenDota). Item effects checked against Valve's own item data.