Portal-dropping support who marks enemies and repositions his whole team
Chip's ultimate is a map-wide repositioning tool rather than pure damage — Shortcut drops portals near every ally, letting the whole team flank, retreat, or contest an objective from a totally different angle. In the fight itself, Crash Course's mark turns his next Basic Attack into a ranged AoE detonation, giving a roamer real poke and shield generation without needing to walk into melee range.
Getting value from Shortcut requires reading the map to place portals where allies can actually use them, and chaining Crash Course's mark into the detonating ranged Basic Attack takes practiced timing.
Max Crash Course first for poke, shield, and mana sustain, level Overtime for the mobility and knockback, and take Shortcut at every level it's available.
Chips starts eating potato chips when out of combat, regenerating HP equal to 150 plus 45% after finishing a whole bag (requires 5 bites). After eating a bag of chips, Chip cannot eat again for 5 seconds.
“Yummy...yummy...”
Always active — no cooldown
Chip rams his hovercraft into the ground, dealing Magic Damage equal to 220–370 plus target's Max HP and applying Chip's Mark on enemy heroes hit. Chip gains a 300–800 (+60% Total Magic Power) shield upon hitting an enemy hero, which increases by 20% for each additional energy hero hit.
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
Chip rushes forward for 2 seconds, gaining speed until he reaches 65% extra Movement Speed, after which he maintains the max speed for 2 seconds. Chip's next Basic Attack will cause him to charge at the enemy, dealing 200–300 (+30% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage and knocking them back slightly.
“Sunshine and beach, I'm here!”
Chip drops the Main Portal on an enemy hero, dealing 200–300 (+60% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage and slowing them by 30% for 2.5 seconds. Meanwhile, he creates Connecting Portals near allied heroes (excluding allies within 8 units of Chip) and behind the allied Base. The Main Portal and Connecting Portals last up to 10 seconds.
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
“Get it done so we can get off work.”
Signature combo
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
7,370g total
Default roam build for durable poke, shielding, and Shortcut uptime.
Battle spell
Flicker120s CDThe 'Flicker combo' — blinking in right as a hook or stun lands, or blinking out the instant an enemy ultimate is cast — is the single most common high-elo outplay moment in the game.
Swap in when needed
Queen's Wings — Against sustained physical damage in extended teamfights.
Dominance Ice — Fortress Shield's stacking Hybrid Defense and Lifebane's anti-heal against attack-speed marksmen or fighters.
Cursed Helmet — Against enemy sustain comps that group up — Burning Soul's constant tick denies out-of-combat regen and Curse shreds their defense.
Winter Crown — Against enemy burst combos aimed directly at him.
7,380g total
When the enemy has a diving assassin or fighter threatening to burst him or his carry down before Shortcut is ready.
Battle spell
Petrify75s CDPetrify's short stun window is enough to force a follow-up teammate combo but not to solo-lock a target — pair it with an ally's burst rather than expecting to win the fight alone.
Swap in when needed
Genius Wand — Flat Magic Penetration plus a stacking Magic Defense shred once the fight is stable.
Queen's Wings — Against sustained physical damage.
Winter Crown — Against enemy burst combos aimed directly at him.
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
AulusFighterHardAulus, Charge! shrugs off slows and cuts the damage he takes from the front while he closes, and Chip has no hard CC to stop him if he's caught outside Shortcut's portal range.
DiggieSupportHardTime Journey strips Shortcut's slow off his whole team the instant it lands and shields them through the follow-up, undoing Chip's setup in a single cast.
EsmeraldaTank · MageHardFrostmoon Shield soaks Crash Course's poke and mark detonation, and Stardust Dance keeps cutting its cooldown so it is almost never down.
AliceTank · MageSoftHer HP-drain sustain outheals the chip damage from Crash Course's mark detonation, letting her out-trade Chip in an extended lane fight.
CarmillaSupport · TankSoftHer more consistent lockdown from Curse of Blood's link out-trades Chip's poke-oriented kit in a direct roam-versus-roam duel.
HanabiMarksmanSoftNinjutsu: Equinox makes her control-immune for as long as its shield holds, and her marked Petal Blade bounces out-damage Chip's shield-and-poke kit in a straight trade.
LyliaMageSoftBlack Shoes rewinds her out of the punish entirely, so she can burst Chip the moment he closes to mark range with Crash Course.
X.BorgFighterSoftFiraga Armor absorbs everything Chip's poke puts out and regenerates once he's armorless, so he simply outlasts an extended skirmish.
BaratsTank · FighterSoftHis tanky frontline and hard CC lock Chip down before he can retreat through a Shortcut portal.
BalmondFighterSoftBloodthirst refunds a fifth of his Max HP on every hero kill and 5% on every minion, out-racing Chip's poke over the course of a lane.
Tough BootsCuts the duration of Shortcut's landing slow, making it easier to walk out before the mark detonates.
Athena's ShieldThe flat magic damage reduction blunts Crash Course's mark detonation and Overtime's charge damage.
ImmortalityThe revive shield lets a target survive a marked detonation combo and disengage before Chip resets.Winter CrownThe damage-immune window voids the Crash Course mark detonation entirely.Heroes whose own counter list names Chip — the same matchup, read from the other side.
ArgusFighterSoftHis displacement shove separates Argus from his target mid-engage, breaking up the Demonic Grip combo before it lands.
ClaudeMarksmanSoftHis portal engage and mark detonation catch Claude off-guard whenever he overextends to farm Art of Thievery stacks.
GrockTank · FighterSoftShortcut's portals drop his whole team into the fight from anywhere, so Grock never gets the surprise terrain engage, and Crash Course's shield blunts whatever burst does land.
GusionAssassinSoftCrash Course marks Gusion and shields Chip through the burst, and Shortcut's portals bring the rest of his team onto the fight before Gusion's ambush dive can finish.
HarleyAssassin · MageSoftDeadly Magic can be blocked by another hero, and Crash Course's shield lets Chip stand in front and eat the ring meant for a squishier target behind him.
HayabusaAssassinSoftChip's shield and body-block absorb the burst combo Hayabusa aimed at a squishier ally behind him.Duo partners whose kit completes this one.
MashaFighter · TankThunderclap lunges onto a target through any crowd control and knocks the rest back, while Chip's Crash Course mark detonation adds ranged burst and a shield on top.
FreyaFighterShortcut's portals let her flank from an unexpected angle before Leap of Faith jumps the rest of the gap and pulls the target in.
ArlottFighter · AssassinHis mobility-heavy dive kit pairs with Shortcut's portals for surprise engages the enemy can't see coming.AulusFighterShortcut repositions him for a cleaner approach angle with Aulus, Charge!, and Crash Course's mark softens the target before he arrives.
LunoxMageShortcut's portals let her flank into range to unload Starlight Pulse and Chaos Assault before the enemy can react.
MinsittharFighterHis engage CC locks a target in place for Chip's Crash Course detonation and shield generation.
YveMageHer zone control complements Shortcut's flanking portals, trapping enemies who try to escape through the repositioned angle.
FaramisSupport · MageHis revive keeps the team fighting long enough to make full use of Shortcut's repositioning in a prolonged skirmish.
OdetteMageCrash Course's mark detonation clusters attention on a grouped target, setting up Odette's AoE burst on the same group.
EdithTank · MarksmanHer tank engage benefits from Shortcut's portal flanks and Chip's shield generation to soak the counter-engage.Apply Crash Course's mark before triggering the ranged Basic Attack detonation, rather than saving it — the shield alone is worth the trade in lane
Place Shortcut's portals during a lull in the fight, not mid-engage, so allies actually have time to use them before they expire
Use Overtime's charge to both initiate on an overextended target and to reposition yourself out of danger after committing
Detonate the Crash Course mark on a grouped target for the bonus shield stacking off multiple heroes hit
Reasonably approachable — the mark-and-detonate poke loop is simple — but reading the map well enough to place Shortcut's portals for maximum team value takes game sense that builds with experience.
Tough Boots into Genius Wand, Guardian Helmet, and Athena's Shield gives penetration, HP, and burst protection. Swap in Dominance Ice against an attack-speed-reliant enemy carry.
Shortcut drops a Main Portal on an enemy hero and Connecting Portals near his allies and the base; teammates can step through a Connecting Portal to teleport straight to the Main Portal's location, enabling instant flanks or repositioning.
Esmeralda's shield absorbs his magic poke almost entirely, Diggie's Time Journey strips Shortcut's slow off the whole enemy team in one cast, and Aulus closes through his kit unbothered if Chip is caught without a portal nearby.
