Want to know the best Dota Underlords alliances to aim for with your next game? Synergies and alliances are vital for running an efficient and deadly Underlords crew, so knowing the most powerful alliance buffs is essential.
In case you’re unfamiliar with this new genre, here’s a brief recap. Dota Underlords is the latest autobattler to emerge after the impressive success of Dota Auto Chess – Underlords is Valve’s official version of the popular Dota 2 mod, except you can grab this for free as a standalone on PC, iOS, and Android.
There are a number of strategies you can employ in order to get the edge on your opponents, but you’ll need to be mindful of synergies and the best Dota Underlords alliances no matter which path you choose. You can tell what alliance a hero is by looking for a coloured icon below them, all heroes have two alliances and if you hover over the alliance icon you can see what bonuses are unlocked strengthening alliances. In normal view you can see what alliances you have by clicking on the top tab on the right-hand side of the screen.
DOTA UNDERLORDS ALLIANCE TIER LIST
While some alliances are stronger than others, some are also more common and will show up in early rounds, allowing you to build a very strong alliance over time rather than waiting until the last ten rounds to start thinking about synergies.
With 23 alliances to get through, here’s our Dota Underlords alliance tier list:
S tier
KNIGHT
- (2x) Knight units take 15% less physical and magic damage and an additional 15% when standing 1 cell away from another knight
- (4x) Knight units take 20% less physical and magic damage and an additional 20% when standing 1 cell away from another knight
- (6x) Knight units take 25% less physical and magic damage and an additional 25% when standing 1 cell away from another knight
All of the buffs for this alliance revolve around keeping your Knight heroes together at all times, so they are naturally vulnerable to AoE damage and pure damage. With Mage heroes recently nerfed, the Knight comp is now one of the most effective in Dota Underlords. Most heroes in this Alliance also dish out meagre damage though, so work on getting as many upgrades as possible, not to mention some high DPS units like Sniper.
Warrior
- (3x) Warriors gain +10 armor
- (6x) Warriors gain +15 armor
- (9x) Warriors gain +25 armor
Many believe the Warrior to be the strongest defensive alliance in the game and it’s pretty easy to see why. For starters, it only takes a 3-stack of Warrior heroes to get a whopping armor buff across your whole team. This pairs nicely with healing and magic resist alliances like Scaled and Warlock, offering a very complete defense-oriented comp. If you’ve got space, Savage and Troll are also great to mix in due to their teamwide attack buffs.
DRAGON
- (2x) All Dragon units unlock an additional Draconic ability
As a pretty small alliance of just two, this is a great way to flesh out a Knight comp, which maxes out with nine heroes. All three heroes in this alliance are very strong, and when you unlock the Draconic ability they become absurdly strong.
A tier
Warlock
- (2x) Whenever a Warlock casts a spell, they form a link with the Ally who has the lowest health for 2 seconds. When either linked hero deals damage, both units are healed 50% of the damage dealt
- (4x) Whenever a Warlock casts a spell, they form a link with the Ally who has the lowest health for 2 seconds. When either linked hero deals damage, both units are healed 80% of the damage dealt
- (6x) Whenever a Warlock casts a spell, they form a link with the Ally who has the lowest health for 2 seconds. When either linked hero deals damage, both units are healed 130% of the damage dealt
The Warlock alliance is now one of the strongest in the game and works very well with high DPS heroes when maxed out. The neat thing about the new Alliance bonus is that if you only have a pair of Warlocks, they’ll still do a lot of good keeping themselves and two other heroes in the fight. This is a flexible alliance that encourages experimentation, particularly with the Big-Time Contract item.
ASSASSIN
- (3x) Assassins gain a 10% chance to critical hit for 300% damage
- (6x) Assassins gain a 20% chance to critical hit for 400% damage
- (9x) Assassins gain a 30% chance to critical hit for 500% damage. They also blind enemies 1 cell away from where they land for 2 seconds (50% miss chance and 50% less mana when attacked)
Critical hits don’t miss in Dota Underlords, making the Assassin alliance the only one capable of dealing with Elusive enemies. This alliance also allows you to leapfrog frontliners and great up positions, making this one of the best comps for dealing with the Knight, Ranged, or Mage alliances. However, this lethality only really hits its stride with the 9-stack bonus, leaving you with very few options for synergizing with other alliances.
Heartless
- (2x) Enemies suffer -5 armor
- (4x) Enemies suffer -10 armor
- (6x) Enemies suffer -15 armor
A very simple buff, but one that will make every stage of a match much easier for your heroes. On top of that, this is also a highly flexible alliance and you should find it easy to build up from heroes and comps you’re already establishing, such as in the Knight, Warrior, and Hunter alliances.
Savage
- (2x) Allied Savage units apply a stackable 5 damage/s bleed on attack for 3. Duration refreshes each attack
- (4x) Allied Savage units apply a stackable 10 damage/s bleed on attack for 3. Duration refreshes each attack
- (6x) Allied Savage units apply a stackable 15 damage/s bleed on attack for 3. Duration refreshes each attack
A great alliance to synergise with a defensive comp, Savage heroes will offer a simple, but incredibly effective damage buff across your whole team. Pair with a low damage Alliance like Knight, Elusive, or Warrior. You also don’t need to chase the 9-stack Savage bonus as the first two reward tiers are both easy to attain and highly effective.
Hunter
- (3x) 25% chance of rapidly performing 2 attacks
- (6x) 40% chance of rapidly performing 2 attacks
Squishy, yet very lethal: the Hunter alliance is formidable provided you have a defensive partnership to keep them alive. You’ll also need to watch out for a rival Assassin alliance as this build quickly falls apart if the enemy can circumvent your frontliners. Expect a very strong synergy with Heartless, Scaled, and Elusive alliances – the three-stack bonus should be all you need to make this comp work.
B tier
Demon
- (1x) – Demon units gain +50% pure damage. Active when you have only one type of Demon unit on the board
It’s hard to really slate the Demon alliance, except for by pointing out that it’s not much of an alliance. The second you add another Demon to your board you lose out on a neat +50% pure damage buff. The upside of this, you only need a single hero for this Alliance, and each of the four heroes are individually strong and fit seamlessly into other comps. For example, Shadow Fiend slots into Mage, Chaos Knight into Knight, Queen of Pain in Assassins, and Doom is a Warrior.
ELUSIVE
- (3x) Elusive units gain +20% evasion
- (6x) Elusive units gain +45% evasion
- (9x) Elusive units gain +75% evasion
Not explicitly a defensive alliance, the Elusive alliance is, however, a great defensive synergy. The teamwide buffs give you a great chance of evading a lot of incoming melee damage. There is another perk from this, which is that missed attacks result in your enemy’s mana not restoring as quickly, which can halt combos dead. There are a lot of powerful Elusive heroes to pick from, making this a versatile, albeit tricky comp to run.
PRIMORDIAL
- (2x) Allied Primordial units spawn a rank 1 Eidolon on death. Eidolons are ranged Primordial units that don’t spawn Eidolons
- (4x) Allied Primordial units spawn a rank 2 Eidolon on death. Eidolons are ranged Primordial units that don’t spawn Eidolons
Great for crowding out the board, but you’ll need a lot of tanking power to get the most out of this alliance. Alas, the first tier of this alliance bonus becomes pretty useless by mid-game.
Human
- (2x) Human units gain a 20% Chance to silence target for 4 seconds when attacking.
- (4x) Human units gain a 44% Chance to silence target for 4 seconds when attacking.
- (6x) Human units gain a 66% Chance to silence target for 4 seconds when attacking.
Lots of heroes from the Mage, Knight, and Warrior alliance also belong to the Human alliance so you’ll manage to accrue a set bonus pretty easily with this comp.
More Dota Underlords guides
The benefits are tricky to notice in most cases, but can make a huge difference in the late game where stopping an enemy from casting can give your team the edge, especially if it’s a Tidehunter.
Scaled
- (2x) Allies gain +30% magic resistance
- (4x) Allies gain +50% magic resistance
A very powerful alliance to form if you notice other teams gearing up for mage comps. The effect is easy to trigger with only a 4-stack needed, and the effects spread to all allies as soon as you have two Scaled heroes on the board, and if you just want two of these then Tidehunter is easily one of the best standalone heroes in Underlords (Medusa’s not bad either).
Troll
- (2x) Troll units gain +35 attack speed and other allies gain +10 Attack Speed
- (4x) Troll units gain +65 attack speed and other Allies gain +30 Attack Speed
In terms of raw damage, you can’t get much better than the Troll alliance. With a 4-stack bonus your crew’s DPS will go through the roof. Pair these guys with the low-damage Knight alliance for a solid melee crew, while pairing with Warlock will mean a high healing rate via Lifesteal. The only real threat to a good Troll comp is an Elusive stack.
C tier
Scrappy
- (3x) A Random Scrappy is granted +9 Armor and +8 HP Regeneration. Armor and HP are doubled whenever you have fewer units alive than your opponent does
- (6x) All Scrappy units gain +9 Armor and +8 HP Regeneration. Armor and HP are doubled whenever you have fewer units alive than your opponent does
- (9x) Allies gain +9 Armor and +8 HP Regeneration. Armor and HP are doubled whenever you have fewer units alive than your opponent does
There’s a lot of crossover with the Inventor alliance due to the unit pool, but if you can unlock the 9x alliance reward then Scrappy can be used in late game as well as early on. You may struggle to get a 5-cost Techie into your roster, but if you can then pairing this Alliance with either high magic resist or healing can you give you great results. For obvious reasons, this is also a very strong Alliance for the early and mid-game, especially if you plan on being a level below the competition to build your economy.
Mage
- (3x) Enemies take 40% more Magic Resistance
- (6x) Enemies take 100% more Magic Resistance
With seven different Mage aligned heroes, there’s plenty of choice here, but the Alliance bonus isn’t particularly strong unless you can weave in some more damaging spell-slingers outside of the Mage alliance: Shadow Fiend and Disrupter both dish out high splash damage. However, this comp can fall apart when coming up against any heroes with magic resist or immunity items.
Demon Hunter
- (1x) Invalidate your opponent’s Demon alliance bonus
- (2x) Invalidate your opponent’s Demon alliance bonus. All Demon units gain +50% pure damage. All Demon Hunters gain +50% Pure Damage
The Demon and Demon Hunter synergy is pretty strong, but it’s also very demanding leaving little room for any other alliances. The two heroes from the Demon Hunter Alliance, Anti-Mage and Terrorblade, are both fine heroes on their own, so together with some Demon heroes backing them up, this can be a solid Underlords build.
Deadeye
- (2x) All Deadeye units focus their attacks on the lowest-health enemy
Gyrocopter is a 5-cost unit that isn’t something you can bank on. If you’re running a tanky comp, however it’s worth chasing a Sniper and Gyrocopter as these sharpshooters are great for finishing off low-health targets and can have a huge impact in close rounds. With only two heroes, you can’t build a team out of this alliance, but as an addition to a comp they’re pretty handy.
Brawny
- (2x) All Brawny units gain +30 maximum HP for each kill they have
- (4x) All Brawny units gain +60 maximum HP for each kill they have
Great against mages all the way through the match because of their high health pool, these solid frontliners are great in the early and mid game, but simply can’t keep up when high damage enemies start appearing.
D tier
Druid
- (2x) The lowest star ally Druid is upgraded a level
- (4x) The 2 lowest star ally Druids are upgraded a level each
If you can upgrade your early game Druids fairly quickly then this Alliance is pretty strong all the way up to late game. However, aside from Treant Protector and Lone Druid, the other heroes in this pool are weak as individuals, making this a supplementary alliance rather than one you want to build your comp around.
Inventor
- (2x) Allied Inventors explode on death dealing 15% of their max health to all enemies 1 cell away
- (4x) Allied Inventors explode on death dealing 30% of their max health to all enemies 1 cell away
The best of a bad bunch, the Inventor alliance absolutely dominates early on and contains a couple of low-cost heroes making it easy to get a few upgraded heroes into your comp. However, this Alliance is weak as you approach the end of the game, with the explosive damage nowhere near enough to help deal with upgraded enemy heroes.
Shaman
- (3x) Units attacking a Shaman have a 17% chance of being turned into a chicken and hop 4 cells in a random direction
Great for limiting your opponents initial DPS, but as it’s random results can vary wildly. With only one tier reward and three heroes needed to activate it, the Shaman alliance is currently weak and tough to work into a comp.
Blood-bound
- (2x) When a Blood-bound unit dies, all other Blood-bound units deal +125% attack damage for the rest of the battle
With only two Dota Underlords hero carrying this alliance and only one tier to the alliance, there’s really not much to be gained by opting for this alliance and no way to build a comp around it unless you luck out and get a couple of copies of the Big-Time Contract item.
And there you have it, our complete tier list of all 23 Dota Underlords alliances, with notes on what synergies you can used them. Hopefully you can roll the right heroes in the item shop and start winning games.