For Good Gaming

Guide to Barathrum, the Spirit Breaker

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:26:00 +0000

How to own&kill in pubs

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Changelog
2009/12/31 Added changelog section; Added Urn of Shadows/Blademail; Added Late game performance section
2010/5/10 Started to upgrade this guide to 6.67C

Hero Introduction

Barathrum is a speed based assassin with moderate global supporting abilities. He has 2 active abilities and 2 passive ones, perfectly supplementing each other. His first active skill is a charge from anywhere on the map which stuns on the first hit. His second active skill is a fade-blink attack that knocks enemies backward. His first passive skill is an aura that both increases his movespeed and increases his attack by movespeed. His second passive is a bash that procs 17% of the time
His position in the team is a point disabler+burst dpser+ganker. He is NOT the farming carry. Pick him if you wanna charge and kill lv 6+ and still retain enough late game power as secondary dpser.

Stats Analysis
Click for detailed stats

Average overall stats growth: no shortage is your biggest advantage
Comfortable base attack and attack animation: During ganking, animation canceling helps early game
Lower than average base movespeed to balance his skills
Very high armor!

Some ~~Useless~~ Tips for beginners

Your early game depends more on your laning skills, the lack of disable is made up with rather high damage and tough stats. You also gradually gain faster movespeed.

Being a strength based ganker means you can improve survivability+damage all in a Bracer, which is exactly what you need early to mid game. In my opinion, any ganker who doesn't have a strength growth of 5 needs these, and who has a strength gain of 5? NOBODY

Skills

You can use this skill from anywhere on any enemy or neutral creep in your sight. During the brief cast animation you might lose sight. It takes 4 seconds on the same spot for to charge up before actually moving, issuing another command will break the spell. I don't think you can shorten this period.
When Barathrum charges within 2500 distance of the target, a buff is visible in HIS status bar. An experienced player always checks his status bar and will always know when you charge him! An animation is played above the head of your target for all your allies to see upon charge.
Gives vision on target upon cast, if the target goes into invisibility you gain sight of the target. That is, you see a patch of highlighted area with no target.
You will always stun&hit the target unless it's Puck who phase shifts, or you're stunned first which breaks the spell. Pugna's Decrepify, Ghost Scepter's ability and the typhoon staff seems to make the initial stun useless(citation needed). You will hit&stun invisible targets!
If the target you charged splits into Manta Style based illusions, you still charge the real one(thanks to doovad)
Movement speed is increased every 4 seconds, a naked Barathrum will achieve max movespeed(522) after 12 seconds and become magic immune for the rest of the charge. The movespeed buff lasts 2 seconds after whatever way the spell ends.
Upon charge Barathrum has 0 collision size, he passes through units and trees. But his route is uncontrollable, generally it's a straight line from you to your target, but you will make the necessary turns to walk up&down hills.
Using any items, levelings a skill or doing any action at all will break charge.(Thanks to SNOW37)

Increases base+boots movespeed by 10% and deals 16% additional damage based on his CURRENT movespeed, the effects show on your attack bar.
At Lv7, this skill alone increases your attack by 47.2 and movespeed to 324, throw in a pair of Boots and you have 380 movespeed and +60 attack. Do NOT underestimate this skill!
The damage increase is based on your CURRENT movespeed, charging, the speed rune and Dark Sear’s run fat boy run all increases your damage in turn.
The additional damage used to take place right before you attack, meaning Barathrum attacks twice in 1 move. Particularly useful in last hitting lol. But I haven’t noticed it in recent versions and saw nothing on the changelog.

This skill always procs 17% of the time, leveling it up doesn’t increase the chance!
Although the damage is magical, the disable works on magic immune units meaning you can break a BKB tp or BKB channeling ultimate
It also triggers right before you attack, many times during last hitting I find it annoying
Bashing a target will cause allied agro on it to drop, if you auto attacked and bashed, your hero will turn to another unit. Farmers watch out! But if you click attacked your target, such things won’t happen

Your ultimate. Upon cast, you step backwards, fade and blink to your targets other side(seen from the point he cast it) and bash him
The bash effect is a lv4 Greater Bash, you don’t have to learn it to take effect, it's just there
Once the casting animation is done, you will always bash your target. During the 1 sec delay you can be disabled or killed. Even so, your disabled form will still bash your target.
For example, SNK stuns you during the fade time but you still blink-bash him in the stun.
If your target blinked/jumped/tped/whatever and moved a LONG distance, you will still appear right next to him and stun. I once ultimated a tping Omniknight and ended up near his fountain.
If you died during fade, your carcass will bash your target. I remember a few occasions. But my hero died right when he was about to blink, so it might depend on when he dies
See what I mean by YOU ALWAYS BASH YOUR TARGET?
A long cooldown of 75 sec, Aghanim’s Scepter will shorten the cooldown to 20 sec

Skill Build

Empowering haste is maxed first. This is Barathrum's soul. Greater Bash is taken only 1 level as it doesn't proc more often and the stun effect&damage increase is pathetic. Charge of Darkness is maxed 2nd and not 1st because the stun increase can't help you deal more damage than leveling up Empowering haste, but it helps a lot so I level it up 2nd.
After lv11, you can choose between stats and Greater Bash. Personally I like stats better, higher levels of Greater Bash is useless, but hey no hero's perfect right? Level up your ultimate at lv 16 duh

Item Build

Starters

You need to concentrate on early game farming to jump start ganking Lv7, and QB helps a lot. Barathrum's actual damage is quite high with Empowering haste, QB just makes it more imba for last hitting. 3 Branches are used for a special purpose mentioned below.

Basic Items

Needless to say, boots are your first priority. As you are an early game melee ganker, items that directly increase hp is vital. Urn of Shadows is now among the basic items.

Why Urn of Shadows

--It offers a cheap and effective stats and mana regen package
--The points IMMENSELY increase ganking effectiveness. You can heal effectively(hp+mp) after a successful gank and finish any escaping enemies.
--Can a bracer finish off any escaping enemies? Can it heal you for 400 over 8 sec? NO. Do you have 20 item slots? NO. So get only 1 bracer.

Core items

That's it. All the items you need to own the game. With these items you have ridiculous burst damage during the charge+Netherstrike combo early to mid game, few heroes can stand it, and if you can't win a solo(any solo) it means your ememy is fat with the bounty from your newbie teammates

Situational Items

This is also a VERY suitable early game survival item. because you're ganking all the time in a high-risk-high-pay style. You can squeeze it in after Boots, since urn of shadows requires you to go back to the fountain, while this is totally available on the lane. After the 30th minute mark, you can sell this for better items.

Barathrum can also become a semi-tank. If your side doesn't lack dps but need someone to charge in, break enemy formation and taunt everyone then this is perfect.

A perfect dps booster for Barathrum. Synergizes with his playstyle. All passive bonuses are useful. When skill is activated, adds(totally) 65 damage, 25 attack speed and 475 hp which drains away after 13 sec. Deactivating it when you have less than 475 hp and activating it immediately gives you an instant hp boost. Very useful to escape or land a desperate kill. If you want further dps after MoM, this is perfect. Cheap, burst damage, survivability.

Good survivability booster, increases disabling ability and a minor increase in dps. With this, your ultimate cools down every 20 sec, making it a powerful disabling blink that deals damage. Get this if your side's dps is enough and survivability tops dps for you.

Good item if you get nuked and disabled a lot. Since this build centers around MoM which makes you receive more damage, BKB is a nice choice when you can't live long enough to deal damage.

What's better than a walking bomb? Get this to further increase your team fight importance. Charge an enemy core disabler/dps, turn this on after a successful stun and do your routine. They wll be forced to focus fire you which hurt themselves or fall back which leaves your target behind. Proper team fight sense is needed here. Blademail is not newbie-friendly! Get this if you are the tank or getting focus fired a lot. However, this does not increase survivability, so make sure you can stand a lot of damage in the first place.

Luxury Items

I play Barathrum as an early-mid game ganker with little need for items. That's why my core item build for him is cheap and few to (1) start ganking asap and (2) maxed item effect/gold returns. Of course there are other better items but they don't fit his pace.

For example, getting BoT instead of Treads+2 Bracers+Magic Wand greatly increases your farming time and lowers the success of ganks.

To me, Treads+2 Bracers+MoM+Armlet/Scepter/another item is A LOT of money for a ganker. So I choose to leave this area blank of items because HE SHOULD HAVE NONE. After the item build mentioned above, it's as if discussing what luxury items CM or VS should have. The situational items are already expensive enough.

Rejected items
I've added this section recently due to requests.

Walkthrough

Early game
you should focus on last hitting&denying. Before you have Charge of Darkness killing is kinduva small probability event due to your side's lack of disable. If you have super strong lanemates, consider leveling up Charge at lv2 and Bash at lv4.
From lv4 and more possibly lv5, you can land a kill on careless lane enemies. Barathrum is generally an underestimated hero, you can make folks pay heavily for their ignorance. Just don't push anything, wait for an opportunity. Remember you have only a charge that stuns for 1.5 sec and cools down after 40 sec.

Lv 6-11
Ganking time, farm only when your skills are in cooldown, global awareness is vital for you to net kills, save your teammates' asses and have Dota cry your name. Gank till you have a Mask of Death and some 500, then farm for your MoM and start a new round of ganking.

Lv 11+
If your side hasn't gotten the upper hand already, you need to play carefully since you're the 2nd dpser and an important force to guide game pace. Get Armlet or Aghanim's Scepter or BKB, support, support, support.

Gameplay

In this part, I will be discussing Barathrum's potential and weaknesses as ganker, assassin and burst dpser. It includes suggestions on playstyle and gives further justification to item builds.

How to kill with Barathrum:
At lv7, pick a target and charge. Upon hit, you will stun. When it's over, he will normally have less than 50% hp and start to run. Since you will have higher movespeed(in most cases), you can:

chase&attack before finishing with a Netherstrike

Netherstrike right after the stun and combo kill

Most players won't just stand there, they have skills and as a melee hero you will get nuked. So either target a fragile hero with less than 75%hp and combo him to death(yeah, it's entirely possible), or call for help!
Keep Dust of Appearance with you against invisibility heroes. Since you always stun an invisibility hero and you have his sight, you'll know when to activate it.

BOOST YOUR SURVIVABILITY EARLY ON
Exchanging lives is generally a bad idea

Not only do you have to initiate a gank, you need to make it long enough to deal damage and hopefully leave in 1 piece. Furthermore, you’re a secondary dpser, unlike VS, your life matters a lot
That's why you should consider cheap effective items like bracers, Urn of Shadows, Poor Man's Shield/Vanguard.

GANK EARLY AND OFTEN
There’s enough time to farm later

At lv7 you are in your peak condition which lasts all through lv 11. As enemies level up, pack up on hp/armor/items, you start to lose edge. Here's when proper items kick in and help you teach them who runs the field. And what better way to earn the gold than off your enemies' bounty while you can?

Use Charge of Darkness wisely

Experienced enemies always notice you’re charging them except in confusion(team fights, chasing etc) so charge when near if possible
Charge newbies from afar when your target’s lane is on your side(closer to your tower, your creeps are more etc) and there are teammates
Charge a fleeing enemy(even if he's all the way on the other side of the map) ducking through shadows and your teammates need help with vision, you don’t actually run there, you're just the spy cam
It’s generally a bad idea to charge Puck, but most Pucks are newbies anyway so whatever

Mana&Cooldown 101

At lv7 a naked Barathrum has 312 mana, a full combo requires 320 mana which is why you need 3 branches or a circlet, A magic wand or a bracer will solve the problem, though I get both
Your active skills cools down in 40/70 sec, you have no use for mana in between and yet you won’t regenerate enough early game. So a good way is to gank, farm a bit, go home and buy your bracers, magic wand and charge from there
Always calculate your mana, especially after your MoM

On soloing and teamplay
Experienced gankers&team players can ignore this part completely

Barathrum is essentially an assassin, his team role is weaker than TH or Visage. However dota is truly a teamplay game, even assassins need enough support so don’t single out yourself and the other 4 dudes, you’re a team, act like one!
Initiate a gank with the help of others, set the pace and get your side moving
As the game moves on, killing depends more and more on team support and cooperation
You are an awesome dpser early game even without your skills, so if your side has ganking heroes with ample disable(Lion, Viper, VS, ES, TH), following them to a gank gives you great edge
Barathrum should start ganking lv6+ and if he has any gold at all, it should mostly come from netting kills. Once everyone's over lv11, he starts to lose edge. Time to farm a bit and get some items, then it's teamplay time again.

How to pick your targets

Early game it's essential to kill and get gold, so pick on easy targets, the easier the better
Mid game, a properly equipped Barathrum is great against farming heroes without disables or escape mechanisms like:
Once you have some items, start having ideas on enemy carries, call your teammates and pay them occasional visits
There are always heroes hanging around with 50% alone or with a teammate, easy prey

Correct Item Usage
When you are Charging an enemy, using Mask of Madness and Armlet will cancel the stun. So you either activate them right after the first stun or, if you're close enough, activate them first before charging.
After lv 10 enemies begin to pack on hp/armor/healing items, making it harder for you to kill in a combo. Correct and timely usage of MoM and Armlet is essential to maintain mid game ownage.

Late Game Performance
Ok I'm saying this from pub game experience, correct me if I'm wrong.
His dps comes second, since his skills only amplify movespeed and the highest you can get is 522(by the way getting BoT and Yasha is highly impractical), which defines him as an early-mid game dps.
Barathrum's greatest late game skill, imo, is Greater Bash. Coupled with enough attack speed, he's an awesome single-hero disabler. "Did I just Bash him all the way from 75% hp to 30%?" It took me a couple of matches to believe myself. During team fights if you manage to bash enemy dpsers half the time, you lower their dps greatly. However you cannot deal as great damage anymore, coupling him with a ranged dps solves the problem.

Guide for warding

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 06:21:00 +0000

Vision is your strongest allie in 90% of the games, by having sight you can predict your enemies movements and sometimes even manipulate them to take certain routes. Having vision of keypoints will grant your team a very big advantage warding in it's self it isn't hard it basicly consists of walking and putting a ward somewhere. Which only cost 100 gp each. But what does make warding something considerd an above average skill is timing and having an underlying strategy behind your wards. When to ward certain places is something very important, for two reasons one being the reason why waste gold on something that doesn't grant a benefit. And the other being variation. It may look obvious but not everyone realises that it's rather easy to counterward someone that sticks to the same warding spots all the time. For most keypoints there are several places to place your wards. Adapt your wards to the game don't stick to the same places. Also when the game continues keypoints change.

The Map:

*Wards with runesight

*Wards to block creepcamps

*Wards to grant sight of keypoints

*Wards with basesight

- Return to Table of Contents

Wardsspots:
So let's continue with a closer look on how much vision each ward actually grants. Every ward tells a Tale and each Tale is part of a strategy.

Rune wards a-m

Bottem Rune

a. Scourge Roshan Bottem RuneWard

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When to place:
- Keypoints: "Roshan", Lower Rune, Bottem Sight For Mid lane
Having opponents who might for an early Roshan, or if you fear that one of the more closer wards by the rune are Counterwarded. Not willing to spend the time to walk to a better wardplace since time is money. Ward this during early game or during the time that roshing becomes viable for either party.
The tale of this ward:
Your teams expects a Early Roshan, has bottem rune sight, and your mid lane is hard to gank from bottem lane. You also plan to runewhore ofcourse. Defensive Scourge ward, near useless for Sentinel

b. Scourge High Hill RuneWard

When to place:
-Keypoints:"Roshan", Lower Rune spawn, Bottem River
This one is inferior to the one at the sentinel side, so you place this ward when you really need this ward. This ward can be set from a save distance if the enemy team is planning to team up for roshan playing Scourge that is. You also plan to runewhore ofcourse.

The tale of this ward:
You take a lot of interest in this small area. Since this ward is considerd a last resort ward.

c. Sentinel High Hill Rune Ward

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When to place:
-Keypoint: "Roshan", Lower Rune spawn, A large part of Sentinel Jungle, two crossroads, a large piece of the river. This ward is the most common used ward for a reason, it grants vision a lot of keypoints.

The tale of this ward:
You do not want to be ganked, and plan to runewhore ofcourse. On top of this it gives some safety on a possible jungler

d. Sentinel Jungle Rune Ward

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When to place:
-Keypoints: "Roshan", Lower Rune Spawn, A small but vital Part of the Sentinel Jungle, 3 Crossroads.
When you plan To jungle in the sentinel Jungle this ward gives a lot of safety since this single ward grants sight on half of the entrances to your jungle.
The tale of this ward:
You plan to Jungle in this jungle, Even though it's a rather small amount of vision it gives it can be considerd one of the best ward available. It's Defensive ward.

e. Sentinel Sidestep Runeward

When to place:
-Keypoints:Bottem Rune, Entire Wood next to bottem Lane. When your bottem lane might be ganked or your enemy is in the sentinel woods. If you destroy that tree, it grants even more sight. But it might spoil the location of your ward. When either Faction might plan to push Bot this ward grants alerts of incoming Enemies

The tale of this ward:
You do not want bottem lane to be ganked, Your fear their jungler. And you plan to runewhore yet again. It's a Defensive Ward. Either Faction might plan to push Bot 1st tower.

f. Sentinel Creepcamp Runeward

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When to place:
-Keypoints: "Roshan",Bottem Rune Spawn, The River"
When you want runesight, the sight is okay it can be used occaisonaly it's a better hidden ward in general
The tale of this ward:
You want to runewhore, you don't want this ward to be found easely alias you know your enemie will counterward the more obvious spots. Type: Defensive

g. Sentinel High Hill Creep Ward

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When to place:
-Keypoints: "Roshan",Bottem Rune Spawn, Mediocre Creep Camp.
When your opponent is planning to jungle in the sentinel Forest, you can block that strong creep camp with this ward
The tale of this ward:
You might try to hunt your opponent that is jungling, And you plan to runewhore ofcourse. Wardtype: Agressive

h. Sentinel Strong Camp Ward

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When to place:
-Keypoints: "Roshan",Bottem Rune Spawn, Mediocre Creep Camp.
When your opponent is planning to jungle in the sentinel Forest, you can block that strong creep camp with this ward
The tale of this ward:
You want to runewhore, and expect to delay your opponents jungler. Type: Very Aggresive

Top Rune

i. Scourge River Ward

When to place:
-Keypoints: Top Rune Spawn, Sentinel River, Uphill Scourge Lane. During early game this is a great ward when the Sentinel is playing Shadow Fiend and alike. Near Useless for the scourge
The tale of this ward:
You want a rune ward, and need sight on the scourge's half on middle lane, Type: Defensive Sentinel

j. Scourge Toprune Hill ward

When to place:
-Keypoints: Top Rune Spawn, 2 Scourge Jungle Entrances, the river. This ward remains a good wardspot from early to mid game, after both the first tower on Top and mid Lane have been pushed it's only good for runesight.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel Wants to hunt in the jungle of the Scourge, Scourge wants to jungle. Neither Faction wants to be ganked on Top, though both Factions plan to runewhore.

k. Sentinel Toprune Hill

When to place:
-Keypoints: Top Rune Spawn, a lot of river.
Use this when your opponent is counterwarding, and when you need to swap around for a runespot
The tale of this ward:
You have high interests in the rune, and know that your enemie is counterwarding.

l. Sentinel Ancient Camp Ward

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When to place:
-Keypoints: Ancient Camp, Top Rune Spawn, A lot of river, and Sentinel Jungle roads.
This is a great ward, it's good from early game untill the first and maybe even after the 2nd tower from the sentinel has been lost. A lot of flee routes after teamfight on Mid have been covered by this ward as well. When you Plan To push mid as Scourge this Ward is optional but there are better spots available. When the sentinel needs a Runeward but does not want to leave mid lane this is a good ward.
The tale of this ward:
You plan to runewhore, Sentinel Might be planning to Stack Ancients, Scourge might want to interrupt with the AncientStacking. Scourge might Plan to push Mid. Sentinel Does not want to leave mid lane, but needs a Rune ward

m. Sentinel River Ward

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When to place:

-Keypoints: Top Rune Spawn, Sentinel uphill sight, Scourge river.
Best used during early game, for either party, when scourge wants to push mid this one is optional but there are better alternatives for that matter.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge needs a uphill ward on Mid lane for laning, Sentinel needs a runeward but does not want to leave mid lane.

Forest wards 01-19:

Sentinel Forest: 01-04
01. Sentinel Uberward

When to place:
-Keypoints: a large portion of the sentinal Jungle, a strong creep camp.
When the scourge is planning to push sentinel 2nd tower on either mid or bottem lane. Or when either Faction just wants a lot of sight on the Sentinel Jungle. Though there are better options for this.
The tale of this ward:
Sent is expecting Scourge to Push the 2nd tower on mid or bot, Scourge is planning to do so. Type: Sent(Defensive), Scourge(Aggresive)

02. Sentinel Jungle Ramp

When to place:
when you want to have sight on the crossing point from mid to bottem lane at the sentinel and suspect your enemies of scouting roshan. Most of the time the first tower on bottem lane will be lost by the sentinel by the time this ward is placed.
The tale of this ward:
Being the sentinel you're expecting the scourge to push from either bot to mid lane or the other way around. Being the scourge you want to secure your pushes and want to obtain vision of some crucial area's of the sentinel Jungle.

03. Sentinel Central Jungle

When to place:
When the scourge plans to push the second tower on the bottem lane, when either party requires vision of the sentinel jungle.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is planning to push the second tower on the bottem lane, also both parties are taking interest in vision of the jungle but not in obstructing usage of it.

04. Sentinel Mid Lane Jungle

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When to place:
When the scourge is planning to push the mid first tower, or when scourge is permaganking the mid lane from the sentinel woods
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is planning to push the 1st tower on the middle lane, or Sentinel mid lane is getting permagank from the forest.

Scourge Forest: 05-10

05. Scourge Central Jungle Ward

When to place:
When either party wants vision of the scourge jungle it shows a lot of keypoints in the. As well as this grant some safety at the mid Scourge laners and top Scourge laners but don't place it being the scourge untill your first top tower has been lost though.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel want vision of a some keypoints in the scourge jungle, Scourge either wants to defend it's jungler or expects the sentinel to push the second tower

06. Scourge Uberward

When to place:
When being pressured as the scourge and want to defend your jungler/2nd top tower. It's an awsome ward for the sentinel to hunt down their jungler and to show many keypoints on the map enemies scourge heroes pass this area a lot. It's the best ward available in my honest opinion.
The tale of this ward:
Well it's the uberward for a Reason it's shows the Scourge Forest, it's a great ward from the 2 minutemark. It's shows weaklingcreeppulls, 2 creep camps and the Scourge second tower.

07. Scourge Hillward

When to place:
When Sentinel is planning to push mid first and second tower this actually applies for both Factions, or when Scourge mid laners keep getting buttfucked from the scourge forest.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is receiving a lot of buttfucks in mid lane from the Scourge woods, Sentinel is (expected to) push mid first and second towers.

08. Scourge Hillward Entrance

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When to place:
When Sentinel is planning to push mid first and it's important to see who's coming from the river over who's inside the jungle. This actually applies for both Factions, or when Scourge mid laners keep getting buttfucked from the scourge forest.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is receiving a lot of buttfucks in mid lane from the Scourge woods, Sentinel is (expected to) push mid first tower and is buttfucking mid from top rune river and scourgejungle

09. Scourge Hillward Exit

When to place:
Being sentinel when you're planning to push the second mid tower, or when pushing the first tower you want to know what the scourge is doing behind their towers. Also when sentinel is pressureing the 2nd mid tower and Scourge is forced behind it's tower sentinel gathers up this hill or leaves through it.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is planning/expected to push mid

10. Scourge Secret Rosh Entrance

When to place:
When you require sight of the secret shop both Factions, When sentinel is planning to push second bot tower, When sentinel is permabackstabbing Sentinel mid lane from the secret shop(first tower has to be down), when Scourge is stacking ancients, when Sentinel is permabackstabbing bottemlane
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is stacking ancients or takes interest in the secret shop, and expect activity at the bottem 1/2 towers, or ganks/teamfights at the second tower on the middle

Creepspawn Blocking wards: 12-19

Sentinel Jungle: 11-14
11. Sentinel UberBlock Ward

When to place:
Sentinel when the scourge is jungling in your jungle, and when being forced to stay defensive, at the lower and mid lane but in general sent never uses the creepblockward, Scourge when sent is jungling, this ward fucks up 1 pulling option, as well. Note: This ward can be placed from 3 places the Furions and where the map is.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is not allowing sent to pull the strong creep camp or stack it, Sent is being defensive at the lower and bottem lane. Scourge is expected to push bot 2nd tower or 2nd tower on mid. Neither party wants to see the camps stacked.

12. Sentinel Creeppull Block Ward

When to place:
Scourge places this ward when the sentinel are pulling this camp to their lane. Mark the x:15 and x:45 moments for hunting them.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is pulling this lane.

13. Sentinel Central Block Ward

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When to place:
When you know the opposing team is farming your jungle.
The tale of this ward:
You are aware of your opponent jungling the sentinel jungle and seriously plan to make it your bitch every couple of minuts

14. Sentinel Hidden Block Ward

When to place:
When your ward blocking the creeppull camp has been found and you take very high interest in blocking this area, it's not the best ward for vision and it's mainly and basicly only purpose it to block that creepcamp from spawning
The tale of this ward:
Sent creeppullcamp is not gonna be pulled and it's a high priority

Scourge Jungle: 15-18

15. Scourge Creeppull Ward

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When to place:
Sentinel places this ward when the Scourge is pulling these creeps to their lane. Mark the x:15 and x:45 moments for hunting them.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is pulling creeps and the sentinel does not want them to do so.

16. Scourge Strong Camp Ward

When to place:
Scourge places this ward when the sentinel is pulling these creeps into their lanes, also the sentinel can place when the scourge pulls them but that won't happen to often though. Either part could and sometimes should ward this place if both Top lane has opposing junglers and a lot of Gankers nearby.
The tale of this ward:
The other party is ganking here or pulling those creeps all the time

17. Scourge Creeppull Block Ward

When to place:
Sentinel places this ward when the Scourge is pulling these creeps to their lane. Mark the x:15 and x:45 moments for hunting them. But both parties can also use this ward to check incoming heroes from the river.
The tale of this ward:
No Creeppulls by the scourge and vision on the river is required to maintain control

18. Scourge Hidden Block Ward

When to place:
When Sentinel has no more options to secure this spot from being pulled.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel does not want scourge to pull this creepcamp they take high value in making sure it won't happen

Lane Wards: A-R

Top Lane: A-E
A. Sentinel Top Second Tower Ward

When to place:
Sent places this ward when they are afraid of the scourge backstabbing them at their 2nd tower, as wel as mantaining sight on this area due to heavy pressure on the middle lane near their base.
The tale of this ward:
It doesn't really tell much it's an occaisonal ward there might be activity expected in this area though.

B. Sentinel Top First Tower Ward

When to place:
Sentinel places this ward when the scourge keeps backstabbing the 1st tower, Scourge places this ward when planning to push the 2nd tower in this lane
The tale of this ward:
Scourge plans to push the second tower in this lane, Sent is fed of with being butfucked at toplane

C. Sentinel Top Lane Ward

When to place:
When the scourge plans on farming this lane.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge wants to be alerted of incoming sentinel heroes while farming this lane.

D. Scourge Top Lane Ward

When to place:
Sentinel places this ward when laning, since the fog can be abused by the scourge in either lasthitting moments and stuff this ward can also be used to spot how far they are behind the trees. It also alerts on inteleporting ScourgeHero when the waveclashing is a little more towards the sentinel towers.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel Plans on Farming and perhaps pushing the first tower on Top Lane

E. Scourge Top Creeppull Ward

When to place:
When the scourge keeps getting aid on the top lane, as well as they are pulling creeps but sent isn't sure whether they plan to pull scourge creeps to push the tower or wait a little longer.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is towerhugging all the time and turning 2 v 2 into 2 v 3 options every now and then, as well as they might pull creeps and the sentinel is aware of that. Sent hasn't decided whether they push the tower or not.

Mid Lane: F- M
F. SentinelBase Mid Entrance Ward

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When to place:
Scourge Places this ward when they plan on pushing into the sentinel base, and want to lure the sent out of their base before. It's a ward to set up a teamfight.
The tale of this ward:
Scourges tries to lure the sent out of their cave. And after winning that teamfight they plan on raxing Mid

G. Sentinel Mid Hill Ward

When to place:
Either faction can place this ward when the scourge is planning to push the 2nd tower on the middle lane.
The tale of this ward:
The chances are that sentinel defences have to come in from top lane or scourge jungle as well as that both parties have heroes like pudge on this hill to take out one enemy. Either way activity is expected around the 2nd tower from the Sentinel at the middle lane. But it's also shows vision on activity of the ancient creepstack as well as incoming ganks from mid to top lane by the scourge, as well as the secret shop.

H. Sentinel Mid Laning Ward

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When to place:
Scourge places this ward during the early stages of the game to maintain vision on the middle lane as well as uphill sight during the lasthitting/denying fight.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is planning to farm on mid

I. Sentinel Mid River Ward

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When to place:
When either party is planning to farm mid, and the opposing team is getting aid from the Sentinel jungle for ganks and stuff.
The tale of this ward:
Plans are to farm mid and trying to avoid being ganked from the sentinel woods, this ward ensures uphill sight on both lanes.

J. Scourge Mid LaningWard

When to place:
When sentinel is planning to farm mid, and requires sight uphill on the scourge mid lane creeps as well. Most likely used during the early moments of the game when the lasthitting and denying moments matter a lot.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is planning to farm on mid, scourge might plan to push it. Scourge is ganking mid.

K. Scourge Mid Riverward

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When to place:
It's never a ward to be placed in high priority, but if you need to swap around a lot due to some excessive counterwarding. Scourge should place this ward to be able to see up the river ramp and incoming allies from the sentinel woods. Sentinel could use the ward to be alerted of backstabbing gankers on the mid lane it also grants a small amount of vision up the scourgeramp though it's highly questionable. When scourge plans to push mid this ward can be usefull and an okay ward but there are other and most of the time better alternatives.
The tale of this ward:
It's important wards are swapped around a lot, Scourge is ganking mid from the sentinel woods. Scourge plans to push mid.

L. Scourge Mid Entrance Ward West

When to place:
Sentinel Places this ward when they are planning to push the mid second tower, or when that tower had been pushed it's a good ward to keep track of scourge activities around their base
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is planning to push mid, and wants to be sure that they are aware of incoming Scourge heroes. As well as where they run of to after a possible teamfight in mid. This ward also keeps vision on the exit and surroundings of the Scourge base which can be extremely usefull.

M. Scourge Secret Shop Ward

When to place:
When you know your enemy has been farming for a long time for a expensive item, and you just love to gank people on their way buying their items. As well as after all 1st towers have been pushed on the scourge terretory this ward is good for aggresive sentinel or Defensive Scourge.
The tale of this ward:
Some one is gonna get facefucked when he's going to get his Expensive items, Both parties try to keep track of their enemies on the scourge area.

N. Scourge Base MidEntrance East

Bottem Lane: O-S
O. Sentinel Bot Second Tower Ward

When to place:
Scourge can place this ward when they plan to push the bottem lane 2nd tower
The tale of this ward:
It is one of the more and so called Horrible wards, but heck sometimes it's usefull if your only focus is this area place it vision remains an allie worthy enough to eat the last cookie. Anyway Scourge is definantly gonna push the 2nd tower on bot lane.

P. Sentinel Bot First Tower Tailward

When to place:
Scourge places when they want to know what's happening behind the 1st bottem tower and they most likely want to push it as well
The tale of this ward:
Scourge needs sight on the backside of the 1st bottem tower and will most likely try to push it

Q. Sentinel Bot First Tower Bellyward

When to place:
Scourge places this ward when they are constantly lasthitting/denying close to the first tower this ward grant sight on the creeps and cancels fogrunners for stuns, as well as they might plan to push this tower.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge plans to farm this lane or push the bottem first tower.

R. Sentinel Bot Laning Ward

When to place:
Sentinel wants to be alerted of incoming Scourges, as well as when they might plan to push this lane though there are better alternatives
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel fears incoming ganks and scourgemembers and needs to be alerted of them. They might plan to push this tower.

S. Scourge Bot First Tower Tailward

When to place:
Sentinel places this ward when they plan to push the scourge 1st and optional 2nd tower and want to be aware of what is behind the scourge towers
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel plans to push Bottem 1st and perhaps second tower.

T. Scourge Bot Second Tower Bellyward

When to place:
Sentinel places this ward when they plan to push scourge 1st and optional 2nd tower and also want to be aware of scourgemembers behind their towers they might as well plan a occaisonal gank on this lane from behind the tower, Scourge might place this ward when they are keep getting skullfucked from behind at their first tower.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge fear to be skullfucked from behind the 1st tower, and Sentinel plans to push the 1 and perhaps even the second tower.

Base Wards: I-VIII

Sentinel Base: I-V
I. Sentinel Top Base Entrance Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must. Scourge can place this ward when they plan to basepush top lane, to set up this war you might need to walk inside the sentinal base for a short moment, but uphillvision is quite important if you can't lure them out.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is gonna basepush Top.

II. Sentinel North Base Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must. Scourge places this ward when they plan to push mid or bot lane. Or just need to know where the sentinel are hiding in their base.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is gonna basepush sent bot or mid

III. Sentinel North-East Base Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must. Scourge places this ward when they plan to push mid or top and want sight on the sentinel base during this proces.
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is gonna basepush mid or top

IV. Sentinel East-North Base Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must. Scourge places this ward when they want sight on the base of the sentinel when they plan to push Bot or Mid
The tale of this ward:
Scourge is gonna basepush Mid or bot

V. Sentinel East Base Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must.
The tale of this ward: Scourge places this ward when they plan to push Bot
Scourge is gonna basepush Bot

Scourge Base: VI-VIII

VI. Scourge North Base Entrance Ward

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When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must. Sentinel can place this ward to have sight when they plan to basepush Top.
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is gonna basepush Top

VII. Scourge West Base Entrance Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must.Sentinel can place this ward when they plan to basepush Mid
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is gonna basepush Mid

VIII. Scourge East Base Entrance Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must. Sentinel can place this ward when they plan to base push mid
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is gonna basepush Mid

VIII. Scourge South Base Entrance Ward

When to place:
Even though all base wards aren't really a must. Sentinel can place this ward when they are planning to basepush Bot
The tale of this ward:
Sentinel is gonna basepush Bot

Last words:
The trick in good warding is that you can make sure your enemies are unable to gank you, with the minimum amount of gold wasted on wards. It doesn't matter if it's aggresive or defensive usage of wards it all comes down to see your enemies. Try not to stick with the same wardspots all your games but swap around that makes it a lot harder to find and spot your wards by counterwarders. Special thanks to Eumellein, Heldarion, SNOW37 and nyu for this section

The Secret art of CounterWarding
Vision is your strongest allie but also your biggest enemie in 50% of the games, so how do you fix this problem? Indeed getting rid of your opponents vision to remain unseen on their radar this helps a lot for your gankers since they can more easely suprisebutsecks enemies. It also forces your opponents to play more defensive since they will be forced to either take big risks or suffer the results. To be a great counterwarder you ought to have supreme map awarenes. But some awsome luck is never wrong either.

Things that ease the job of counterwarding.
- Seeing your enemy putting up their wards by your own wards or invisible/scouting (allies), keep in mind that the casting range of wards is smaller than 800 AoE. So basicly if you place your sentrie ward exactly where the enemy stood when he placed the ward, you should be able to see where their ward was placed so keep track of your enemies, in order to get of their radar.

- Using a Gem of Truesight, keep in mind a gem costs 700 gold so if you're able to destroy 7 wards it has served it's cost. You can keep it in base after your counterward a few wards. It has been done in the past but must of the time the benefits aren't worth the risks. Since if you lose it your enemy can use it against your own wards.

- Using a Necrobook 3, these little fuckers are just plain imba when it comes down to a wardwars, it's like comparing fighting daggers with laser-cannons.

- Being Ranged/Blinker Mobility and the ability to attack the wards that are "hidden" out of melee range is a must to do some decent counterwarding. Also keep this in mind when your enemy has nearly only active melee ward placers some wards can be excluded from the list already.

- Being able to use the Hot Map

- Knowledge about your enemy's support their favourite ward spots

- Being aware of the strategy planned and played by both parties so you can more easely predict where their wards are placed.

- Try to place your sentries in such a way that they cover more than 1 warding spot.

- Don't just destroy your enemies observers, also get rid of the sentries that they used to (try) get rid of yours, else they'll easely destroy your sentries as well and they can replace the same ward if they wished.

- Keep track if some creepcamps ain't spawning.

Additional Tricks:
- Zeus'Bolt grants a small moment of Truesight, it's usefull but you need an enemy in order to cast it so it's rather unreliable.

- Hunting your enemies Crow to steal your enemies wards, it's mean but everything is allowed in love and DotA.

Note: Dust of Appearance does NOT reveal wards.

The Hot Map:

Woa wtf is this you might think on the first look. And well I can't blame you. So let me explain This map shows the sight given by all common and less common used wards. The more red a place on the map is the more wards that cover that area. The trick in finding your enemies ward is by looking for the edges where you realize that they see you. What would you do if you saw an 3-man gank coming in? What would you do if you knew there spawned a rune on the lower rune spawn. Etc. all these factors think of your opponent brighter as your self and watch how they move at certain moments. This is still rather hard and even PusherStreet or Axypa don't have a 90% rating of finding the wards from their enemies.

How to use this map:
Try to lure out "un-normal" Behaviour from your enemies in the slim-red areas to find out which ward they've put up exactly. You're estimations she be not more than 800 AoE off since you can still counterward this ward if you're off that far.

Great Counter Wards Placements:
The pictures below show where to place your sentrie and the range of truesight they grand. I haven't shown to to counterward all wards. But only the counterwards which are capable of destroying 2 or more wardspots. For the others, just place them next to the ones shown in the warding section. For all the others try to keep your sentries hidden inside the trees to make it harder for your enemies to spot them.

1. Bot Rune/Sentinel Forest AntiWard

Place to counter:
c.
d.
g.

2. Bot Rune Anti-Ward

Place to counter:
a.
b.
c.

3. Sentinel West Forest Anti-Ward

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Place to counter:
g.
e.
12.

4. Sentinel Central Forest Anti-Ward

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Place to counter:
c.
g.
13.

5. Sentinel Hill Anti-Ward

Place to counter:
g.
02.

6. Top Rune Mid Anti-Ward

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Place to counter:
i.
l.
m.

7. Top Rune Anti-Ward

Place to counter:
j.
k.

8. Scourge Double-Camp Anti-Ward

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Place to counter:
15.
16.
17.

10. Scourge Hill Anti-Ward

Place to counter:
07.
08.
09.

11. Scourge Jungle Uber Anti-Ward

Place to counter:
05.
06.

12. Scourge West Forest Anti-Ward

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Place to counter:
10.
T.

13. Scourge Secret Shop Anti-Ward

Place to counter:

M.
N.

14. Scourge Base Entrance Anti-Ward

Place to counter:

L.
N.

Last words:
The trick in good counterwarding is that you're aware of the enemies strategy and aware of where there wards are placed. After knowing that start hunting hunting with sentries without having a single clue will not add much to your team, it's better to resort to a gem if that's the case. Special thanks to Eumellein, Heldarion, SNOW37 and nyu for this section.

click here for extremely good info And here for additional info

- Return to Table of Contents

Guide To Puck

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:51:00 +0000

Puck - The Faerie Dragon

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Stats, Pros and Cons
3. Skills Overview
4. Skill Build
5. Core Build
6. Viable Items Afterwards
7. Not Recommended Items
8. Combo Section
9. Strategy: How to Gank Safe
10. Phase Shift Section
11. Puck's Best Friends
12. Worst Enemies: They are fags
13. Credits

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1. INTRODUCTION

Hi, this is my guide about Puck, the Faerie Dragon, a very fun hero to play and challenging to master. I will be covering most that I know in how to play him properly, especially, his most imba Linken hax ability, Phase Shift. Hopefully, this guide would serve you well in your plays with Puck.

I recommend that in playing Puck that you at least know every hero in the game, and knowledge on each hero's playstyle and behavior, so you know what to expect from them, since knowledge helps you landing a perfect Phase Shift escape from any of them.

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Puck, the Faerie Dragon
"Size and cuteness are so deceiving..."

2. STATS, PROS AND CONS

Strength: 15 + 1.7
Agility: 22 + 1.7
Intelligence: 25 + 2.4

Health: 435
Mana: 325

Damage: 38 - 49
Armor: 2.1

Affiliation: Sentinel
Attack Animation: 0.5 / 0.8
Casting Animation: 0.1 / 0.51
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Movespeed: 295
Missile Speed: 900
Attack Range: 600
Sight Range: 1800 / 1200

PROS:

- Has the Linken Sphere hax Phase Shift
- Has a versatile skill that can help ganking and escaping
- AoE type spells = team destroyers
- Its cute appearance is often underestimated
- Quick burst damage combo spells that can synergize really well with any teammate
- Item-independent hero

CONS:

- Squishy health, easily killed by nuker-fags
- Disables such as silence quickly shuts him off, making him very vulnerable to anything

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3.SKILLS OVERVIEW

ILLUSORY ORB

Sends a magic orb flying down a straight path damaging everything in its way. At any time during the life of the orb the Faerie Dragon may teleport up to it, taking its place.

Level 1 - 70 Damage.

Level 2 - 140 Damage.

Level 3 - 210 Damage.

Level 4 - 280 Damage.

Manacost - 125
Cooldown - 15

Author's Notes: Your bread-and-butter skill that allows you to gank, chase, and escape in any situation effectively. Puck shoots out a yellow orb that travels up to 1800 range, damaging anything it touches, and gives aerial vision at the area, making it good for scouting forests.

The Orb only lasts for 3 seconds, so keep that in mind when using Ethereal Jaunt, any long than that, and you'll miss the teleport.

WANING RIFT

Releases Puck's mystical faerie dust around him dealing damage and silencing enemies.

Level 1 - 60 Damage. 0.1 sec silence.

Level 2 - 120 Damage. 1 sec silence.

Level 3 - 180 Damage. 2 sec silence.

Level 4 - 240 Damage. 3 sec silence.

Manacost - 100/110/120/130
Cooldown - 20

Author Notes: Another great initiating skill that works perfect with Orb. It has a 400 AoE, fairly large to hit a lot of enemies at once. The silence part is great against spellcasters, delaying them from any kind of disables long enough for your team to come in and do their thing.

PHASE SHIFT

Shifts the Faerie Dragon out of existence for a brief period, temporarily avoiding any further damage.

Level 1 - 0.75 seconds invulnerability.

Level 2 - 1.50 seconds invulnerability.

Level 3 - 2.25 seconds invulnerability.

Level 4 - 3.00 seconds invulnerability.

Manacost - 50/40/30/20
Cooldown - 6

Author's Notes: The imba l337 built-in Linkens' Sphere that lets you dodge any kind of spell in the game, well almost, but it serves most of his squishiness while making the enemy team QQ about it. This deserves its own section below, so scroll down if you want to read it now.

DREAM COIL

Puck's powerful imagination engulfs an area, creating coils of volatile magic that damages and stuns enemy unit as it latches on to them. Stretching the coils beyond 600 range causes it to snap and deal additional damage and stun time.

Level 1 - Initial Damage: 100 Damage and 0.5 sec stun. Coil Break: 100 Damage and 1.50 sec stun.

Level 2 - Initial Damage: 150 Damage and 0.5 sec stun. Coil Break: 150 Damage and 2.25 sec stun.

Level 3 - Initial Damage: 200 Damage and 0.5 sec stun. Coil Break: 200 Damage and 3.00 sec stun.

Manacost - 100/150/200
Cooldown - 85

Author's Notes: One of the best ultimate that a ganker must have, coiled enemies either has to choose to either stay there and get ripped apart, or escape to only get disabled, even Leap and Blink can't escape the long stun. It also has a long cooldown though, so use it wisely, better if you can hit multiple heroes, not just one.

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4. THE 1337 SKILL BUILD

Illusory Orb Build:

Level 1 - Illusory Orb <Lv1>
Level 2 - Phase Shift <Lv1>
Level 3 - Illusory Orb <Lv2>
Level 4 - Waning Rift <Lv1>
Level 5 - Illusory Orb <Lv3>
Level 6 - Dream Coil <Lv1>
Level 7 - Illusory Orb <Lv4>
Level 8 - Waning Rift <Lv2>
Level 9 - Waning Rift <Lv3>
Level 10 - Waning Rift <Lv4>
Level 11 - Dream Coil <Lv2>
Level 12 - Phase Shift <Lv2>
Level 13 - Phase Shift <Lv3>
Level 14 - Phase Shift <Lv4>
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Dream Coil <Lv3>
Level 17-25 - Stats

- Illusory Orb should be taken at level 1 first to allow you to chase and escape right away.
- Phase Shift is taken afterwards to allow you to evade any kind of harassment from early game up to late game.
- Illusory Orb should be maxed, and followed by Waning Rift to immediately build up your burst damage output.
- Get Dream Coil whenever you can, then stats last.

Waning Rift Build: < credits to Lycan >

Level 1 - Illusory Orb <Lv1>
Level 2 - Phase Shift <Lv1>
Level 3 - Waning Rift <Lv1>
Level 4 - Waning Rift <Lv2>
Level 5 - Waning Rift <Lv3>
Level 6 - Dream Coil <Lv1>
Level 7 - Waning Rift <Lv4>
Level 8 - Illusory Orb <Lv2>
Level 9 - Illusory Orb <Lv3>
Level 10 - Illusory Orb <Lv4>
Level 11 - Dream Coil <Lv2>

- A good alternative instead of maxing Orb first since Orb has a tendency to miss, while a 400 AoE silence nuke does not.
- Put one level of Phase Shift at level 2 in case there's a nuker/disabler on your lane that can be dodged; if none, go for Orb.
- Depends on who you are facing against on lane, probably at least one of them has a disable ready just in case you orb right next to them.
- Waning Rift deals decent damage and the 3 second silence is wonderful to have since it silences every enemy near you and silence counts as a disable to them.
- The rest would be entirely up to you if you want to put more levels to Phase Shift or go for stats, your choice.

Note: The two builds would pretty much depend on who you're facing against. If there are nukers, ranged heroes that you can't get near with, go for Orb first. But when there are TWO melee heroes, then go for Rift. IMO, Orb helps you harass better without the risk of getting too near with the enemy.

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5. CORE BUILD

or or

Bracers: These help you compensate for that squishiness of yours.
Bottle: A Ganker's best friend, don't gank without it.
Boots: Duh, this can be upgraded to either Phase, or BoT
TP: Don't ever leave base without it, or until you go for BoT

Sheepstick: I recently tested going for this first and it works great. The additional stats gives huge survivability and early 3.5 sec disable is pretty awesome.
or
Shiva's The item literally made for Puck. This adds additional firepower and slow for your usual combo.
or
Bloodstone: Gives Puck a huge boost of health and mana that he really needs, and a good source of regen to boot.

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6. VIABLE ITEMS AFTERWARDS

Phase Boots: A cheap recipe to go for with the good boost of +20 MS, +16 Damage and +5 Armor, which Puck mostly lacks, and helps in chasing enemies with it.

BoT: Your free-instant defend and push teleport item. Only recommended though when late game comes and you need to defend more often.

Necronomicon: Sweet item to go for with your combo. The aura buff to your allies is great and the Mana Burn adds additional firepower to your attacks, enemies can either stay and get mana burned or run away to be Coil stunned and still be manaburned to death.

Force Staff: A fun way to force enemies to break off the coil, although I don't recommend it since there a lot of items to go for which are a lot better, get this if you have core already.

Heart: This pretty much solves Puck's pathetic health, but it takes too long to make, and sometimes, you're better off without it. <You've got Phase Shift, remember?>

Dagon: If you want additional burst damage to finish or ks a hero quickly, then go for it. Also great in quickly dispatching enemy nukers before they get to do anything.

Linken's: A true lifesaver for anyone, especially to fragile heroes like Puck, it gives you another chance to live if you screw up.

Ghost Scepter: Very useful against heroes who rely on their auto-attack to deal damage like PA, Troll, etc.; plus Phase Shift cannot dodge them, so this item is really good but situational, and wrong timing means 44% amplified spell damage to you.

Eye of Skadi: A late-game item orb for Puck, the slow really helps a lot with chasing down enemies with your teammates.

BKB: A really, really situational item, especially when there's a Riki on their team. < I'm not really sure if this blocks/negates any silence effects on him though. >

Orchid: A useful item against any enemy spellcasters/initiators and quickly making them useless. Plus, it's a good dps for autoattacking heroes after initiating your combo.

Blink Dagger: More and more people say Blink Dagger is good and makes Puck more a bitch to kill, since 3 sec Phase Shift means a 100% safe, uninterrupted blink. Go for it after you have core preferably.

There's still lots more items that are viable for Puck, so test out and find it for yourselves and discuss it here.

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7. NOT RECOMMENDED ITEMS

Mekansm: Going for this is a no-no, even if your helping your team. Problem is at early game, you only have enough mana for your 3-spell combo, adding a Meka makes things harder for you to be mana-efficient, you're better off with offense than defense IMO.

Refresher: All of your spells have a reasonably low cooldown, I don't think this is really necessary.

Aghanims: Puck isn't included in the list, so why bother?

Vanguard: Puck shouldn't take any damage in the first place. If you want survivability, go for other hp increasing items, not damage block items.

Lothar's Edge: Same reasons with Blink.

Damage Items: Puck is a spell-oriented hero, nuff said. Besides, Survival > Damage

Obviously, in dressing Puck up with items, make sure to prioritize Survivability <Strength and HP> and Intelligence, agility is a shit stat for Puck anyway. So please keep that in mind.

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8. COMBO SECTION

INITIATING

-> -> ->
Orb - > Jaunt -> Rift -> Coil

- The usual spell combo when ganking/initiating. It deals approximately 280(210) + 240(180) + 100(75) = 620(465) to enemies(heroes) with a level 1 Coil with a total mana cost of 125 + 25 + 130 + 100 = 380.
- But always observe first before going in if there are enemies with a powerful nuke or disable or just fragile heroes with no escape mechanisms.
- Fragile Heroes with little to no escape mechanisms are pretty easy to kill by yourself, your usual combo would pretty much eat away half or 2/3 of their health.
- Going against Disablers however, its best if you have invested for a Lvl 1 Phase Shift at least, and better when there's an ally around. Anticipating a nuke/disable and dodging it would pretty much screw their chances of getting away from you.

ESCAPING

-> ->
Orb + Shift + Jaunt

- Manacost of doing this combo costs 125 + 50 + 25 = 200 at minimum, getting more levels of Shift means -10/-20/-30 mana cost at lvl 2/3/4.
- This is where Mindgames come in: When you're in a situation like being chased down by an enemy:
1. Cast Orb in front of them, and then run at the opposite direction. This would pretty much confuse them if they should still follow you or the Orb:
* If they still continue to chase you down, then Jaunt when Orb reaches a relatively long distance.
* If they stop and start chasing the Orb, thinking you will Jaunt there shortly, then don't Jaunt at all and continue to run.
- Use Orb at a nearby cliff/impassable terrain where enemies can't reach you and Jaunt there, it would almost ensure a safe getaway.

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9. STRATEGY: HOW TO GANK SAFE

Quote:

OPTIONAL
Warding
Puck is a good choice for the team to buy Wards for them, covering rune spots, stopping neutral spawning of enemy jungle if there are jungle heroes around, and prevents ganks.

This is mostly done in serious, high level games,and ONLY buy wards when your team desperately needs one and there's no one else can afford it.

EARLY GAME:

or or

Start off with either a few circlets, tangoes and clarites, or a Magic Wand, or a Courier and Bottle, depends if it's 4vs4 or 5vs5. You are item-independent so buy a Courier for your team if needed. It's recommended for you to go for dual lanes, and hopefully laning against two enemies at once to fully utilize your AoE potential.

Do the usual in lane: Last hit, deny, and HARASS. You're a ranged hero, so take free hits on enemies whenever you get the chance.

By the time you hit level 3 < Has Lv2 Illusory Orb by now >, start harassing with this spell. But be sure to kill at least one or two creeps while harassing the two heroes to maximize the AoE. By now, you should be working on Bracers and Bottle < if you don't have it yet >

Don't get aggressive too much until you hit level 6 to start roaming and ganking. Get yourself a Crow to refill your bottle or scout for runes if you can.

P.S. If you manage to farm up to 2700 gold, quickly buy a Mystic Staff and work on Shiva immediately. The faster you can complete it, the better. Since 200 dmg at early game is rather high for your burst AoE combo.

[b]OR

If you're aiming for Sheepstick, buy FIRST an Ultimate Orb since the extra 190 HP and 130 MP is very, very beneficial for a fragile caster like him.

The objectives in early game: Stay safe, don't die without bringing someone with you at least, and gank efficiently with good team coordination. Oh, and at least 1-2 bracers, boots and a bottle before you start roaming and killing anyone you see. And, be a rune-whore if you can.

MID GAME:

By now, you should have or almost finish your core build by now if things go smoothly according to plan, but your role stays the same, gank and push with teammates around. Don't ever stray off to far since Puck's easily killed by disables.

You should be either working on a luxury item at least, Guinsoo or Shiva, Bloodstone, Linken if necessary, Dagon, etc. And you should be in every team fights and initiating. Puck is a team-oriented hero, not Rambo, and cannot get kills without teammates around efficiently.

If you guys can, you should be pushing whenever you can or the enemy team are all dead and destroying some rax, seriously, and ultimately, finish the game.

LATE GAME:

This is where Puck is losing its effectiveness, since you all rely on your carries/late-game heroes to do most of everything. Your job now is to support them whenever you can. Disable the enemy team threat whenever you can, or at least use all of your spells and items before you die, since you're relatively easy to take down now.

You keep yourself hidden from view so your enemies won't know where you will Orb. It's best to use Orb when they cluster together so your combo will be much easier to do, then Rift, Coil then shift so your teammates can take over while you run to safety and strike from afar.

Push, farm and defend, that's all you can do for now, in teamfights, well, it's all about who initiates first, and it's a lot easier to initiate when your team has a silence or another initiating skill like Echo Slam, Ravage, Rain of Chaos, etc. Hopefully, the game will end by now in your favor.

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10.PHASE SHIFT SECTION

The uber godly spell-evading skill that deserves its own section. Phase Shift is probably one of the best and underestimated skill.

This skill takes practice to master, but is most rewarding when you know how to dodge every type of spell in the game.

There are two ways you can dodge spells, auto-cast and manual-cast:

Manual Cast:

Activating Phase Shift manually by pressing the hotkey F. This allows you to dodge every projectile spells completely, like Storm Bolt, Elune and even close-ranged spells like Call, Echo Stomp, Ravage if you can anticipate it right. This method is the hardest thing to master, since spells are either slow or fast, and you really need a good reaction time and fast fingers before those spells land:

Here's a short list of spells that can be manually dodged:

You can dodge AoE spells like these if you can time when an enemy is about to use it e.g. Slardar gets close, Shifting when Splitter or Stomp is about to activate, Blast as well.

All of these can be dodged, as long as you have fast fingers, Phase Shift ready, and of course, you aren't disabled or silenced.

Auto-cast:

Right-clicking means Autocast, this is a easier and safer method to dodge spells, especially instant spells like Shadowraze, Lightning Bolt that aren't projectiles as long as they're only damage-based.

Here are a short list of spells that can be dodged <based from my experience:>

In short, almost any instant-animation spells that doesn't have to travel to get to you, Phase Shift can dodge it.

Some say that spells like Laguna Blade, Lightning Bolt and Finger are based off Storm Bolt, and you can dodge that with Manual Cast, problem is, since it almost travels instantly to you that you need uber fast reflexes to pull that off.

Some spells with additional effects are quite tricky and I'm not totally sure if autocast Phase Shift will evade that, some say you may dodge the stun/disable of some spells, but you are still damaged. Hey, it's better than nothing right?

P.S. I may need comments on other spells that I can add to the list, or anything I missed...

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11. PUCK'S BEST FRIENDS

Initiators/AoE Disablers: What's better than having only one disabler like Puck on your team? Answer is two or more, seriously...

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12. WORST ENEMIES: THEY ARE FAGS

Silencer: The bane of Puck's chain-nuking madness. What he basically does is add a 3 second silence to every spell you cast, meaning... you can't Jaunt anymore since Orb is probably gone by then, can't chain-combo anymore, and worse, cannot Phase Shift as long as he's around. So either don't pick Puck or gank him quickly with teammates.

Silence: A well-timed silence against you before you get to do anything at all can make you look like a defenseless creep, waiting to get pawned.

Nerubian Assassin: Pretty much the bane of everything fragile looking and easy to kill. His three spell combo would pretty much kill you before you can even do anything at all. Plus, mana burn screws your early game combo.

Pugna: His Decrepify + Blast combo is not a threat since you got Phase Shift. But the real problem is that when he places a Nether Ward just when you're about to initiate, and after that, most of your health are probably gone before you can even notice it.

Ogre Magi: If he gets lucky in hitting you with a multicast or two, you're probably dead.

Heavy-hitting Nukers: Due to Puck's very fragile status, few of these can quickly obliterate Puck if he's not too careful, or Phase is in cooldown and not in auto-cast < most of them have instant-cast spells >.

Doom Bringer Having him around is no fun, his Lvl Death already hurts you even without the bonus damage, worse is that he dooms you before you get to even do anything as it quickly rips your low health to nothingness easily.

Guide to Venomancer

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:50:00 +0000

(Awesome picture by Elsevilla from DeviantArt)

Table of content

*I Introduction
*II Hero description
*III Skills
*IV Skill Build
*V Item Build
*VI Gameplay Walkthrough
*VII Using your skills
*VIII Friends and foes
*IX Playing against him
*X Veno in organized games
*XI Replays
*XII Conclusion

(Click on the little * to reach the wanted section)

I Introduction

Hello again and welcome to my second (but first one was on DA, maybe one day I’ll update it and bring it on PD) guide. So why did I write this guide? Mostly because Venomancer is one of my favorite heroes, but sadly a lot of people play him wrong, or don’t play him at all. He’s fun, he’s quite powerful (but clearly not OP), he’s interesting to play, but most important thing is that he’s a Zerg, and that I love ‘em. (maybe too young people won’t understand this, sadly (well now with SC2 this sentence makes no more sense))

This guide will be aimed at low-mid skilled players mainly, which means it might be inaccurate for higher level play, but won’t cover the very basics of the game. I myself mainly play on RGC, where the level is more than decent (wards, even some counterwarding, no boots first and most people can play their hero correctly) but nothing too high. Just to say that things which might work in pubs could very well fail hard here.

II Hero description

For those obsessed with death, poison is a necessary study. However, Lesale went a step too far. He experimented upon himself with various toxins and chemicals so that he could learn the secrets of death. These twisted his mind and mutated his body into a hideous creature which embodies an immense hatred for all things pure. He can strike an enemy with a concentrated shot of poison or even spread a toxic gas throughout an entire area, severely weakening beast and human alike.

Strength : 18 + 1.85
Agility : 22 + 2.6
Intelligence : 15 + 1.75

Advanced statistics :

Veno's stats aren't really impressive tbh. He got 55 starting stats, which is kinda bad (Strygwyr has 65 for instance) but actually it's around the average (55.6, but this "average" takes heroes such as Weaver into account), and his stats growth is 6.2 which is around the average (6.15). However, he suffers from a very bad Str growth which makes him paper, as well as weak Int growth whereas his spells are quite mana intensive. His Agi gain isn’t that bad but…guess what? You’re no carry. More on this later.
Two other little things to notice : you have NO casting animation, unlike say Leshrac (ever seen a Leshrac raising his hands to cast a spell and then his 50 hps target jukes him and survives? Won't happen to you), but he got a terrible backswing after attacking, which is why you should animation cancel when you're chasing a target. If you don't know what the fuck is this, please refer to this link .

Pros :
+Awesome ganker with low-cooldown spells
+Can actually roam the map from level 1, and one of the best heroes to get First Blood
+Quite item-independent, yet he still benefits from them
+Extremely painful ultimate
+Free wards (although less powerful than purchased ones)
+Above average pusher
+Excellent lane control
+<3 Hydralisks!

Cons : (white is the color of purification and curative magic, so you hate it)
-Almost all his damage is magical, hence he’s raped by Hood and even worse, Pipe
-Below average stats
-Low base damage
-Heavily countered by TPs and regeneration
-3 of your skills can get the enemy denied by his allies

As you can see, there are more pros than cons (the last pro is really important!).
Let’s start with serious things now!

III Skills

Venomous Gale

Releases a Venomous Gale which poisons enemy units it comes in contact with. Poisoned units take initial damage, damage over time, and have their movement speed slowed for a short duration.

Level 1 : 90 manacost, 50 strike damage, 10 duration damage (100 total damage)
Level 2 : 105 manacost, 70 strike damage, 20 duration damage (170 total damage)
Level 3 : 120 manacost, 70 strike damage, 40 duration damage (270 total damage)
Level 4 : 135 manacost, 100 strike damage, 50 duration damage (350 total damage)

Cooldown is 22 seconds, casting range 800, AoE 125 and duration 15 seconds at all levels.
Slows by 50% at all levels. (only starting value, slow decreases over time)
AoE of 125 at all levels.

Notes : Enemies under the effect of this spell can be denied (under 25% of their max hps), so be careful when using it. Most people won’t think about it when running though.
Damage is dealt every 3 seconds.
An important thing to notice is the way it scales. At level 2, its damage is only slightly higher than your average nuke (150 damage), but at level 3, it deals almost as much as a level FOUR nuke! (Dragon Slave deals 280 damage, ok I cheated a bit since average is 300). That means that you should be even more aggressive at level 5. Obviously it is a bit countered by regen, but natural regen is really low at this stage, and poison > salves.

Poison Sting

Adds poison damage to this hero's normal attacks, slowing movement speed by 10%. Lasts 7 seconds.

Level 1 : 5 DPS (35 total damage)
Level 2 : 10 DPS (70 total damage)
Level 3 : 15 DPS (105 total damage)
Level 4 : 20 DPS (140 total damage)

Slows by 10% at all levels and lasts 7 seconds.

Notes : Deals magical damage and is lethal as of 6.63b. (wasn’t the case some time ago)
This is a fantastic tool for harassing early game since it will make your enemies use all their regen quite quickly. You just have to hit them every 7 seconds to keep them permanently harassed, even if it’s just a little. At level 2 already, it negates a lot of a tango’s regeneration.
Another use of this is to land a “last hit” on a fleeing enemy. Since it is lethal, +140 dmg (105 with the natural resistance) can be the difference between a failed gank and a kill.
The slow isn’t that big, but might still make a difference when chasing.

Plague Ward

Summons an immobile serpentine ward. The ward is immune to magic. Lasts 40 seconds.

Level 1 : 75 hit points, 11 max damage
Level 2 : 200 hit points, 21 max damage
Level 3 : 325 hit points, 32 max damage
Level 4 : 450 hit points, 42 max damage

Manacost is 20, cooldown 5 seconds and duration 40 seconds at all levels.

Notes : They deal piercing damage, which means they will own creeps but do close to nothing against heroes (unless you have a ton of them, since Rhasta’s wards also deal piercing damage and we all know how painful they can be…)
You will mostly use them as mobile wards and to siege towers, not for DPS purposes.
It is possible to solo Roshan using those things, but I don’t like that (more explanations in the “Gameplay Walkthrough” section)
Wards are immune to magic.

Poison Nova (Ultimate)

Creates a ring of noxious poison that damages enemy units over a 12 second period. Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter.
This spell got a very nice buff in 6.67, with improved duration at levels 2, 3 and 4. I'll let both the new and old total damage for a while to let people realize the difference.

Level 1 : 36 DPS for 12 seconds (432 total damage) (unchanged)
Level 2 : 58 DPS for 14 seconds (696 total damage) (812 total damage)
Level 3 : 81 DPS for 15 seconds (972 total damage) (1215 total damage)
Level 4 (with Aghanim’s Scepter) : 108 DPS for 16 seconds (1296 total damage) (1728 total damage)

Manacost : 200/300/400/400
Cooldown : 140/120/100/60
AoE : 950 at all levels

Notes : This skill does NOT deal lethal damage. Enemy units will be left at 1 hp. Your 2 other poisons are lethal, though.
Note the absurdly high damage that this does. It is close to Laguna Blade’s damage, but in an AoE! (and quite a big one, see later for screens) Early game, it will net you quite a lot of kills, and later in the game, it can still turn the tide during teamfights.

Notice that as of 6.67, this spell is definitely the one that deals the most damage of the whole game (save Obsidian Destroyer's ult if he's farmed) at the last level : lvl 3 now deals almost as much as old lvl 4 Poison Nova. And Aghanim's Scepter adds FIVE HUNDRED damage, so basically it makes it even better to get than before.

IV Skill Build

1. Venomous Gale
2. Poison Sting
3. Venomous Gale
4. Poison Sting
5. Venomous Gale
6. Poison Nova
7. Venomous Gale
8. Plague Ward
9. Poison Sting
10. Poison Sting
11. Poison Nova
12-15 Plague Ward/Stats
16. Poison Nova
17-25 Stats/Plague Ward

This build seems quite self-explanatory for me. Venomous Gale is maxed first because it will be your main ganking tool. One level of Poison Sting is taken at 2 for the extra slow. Plague Ward is taken at 8 for the vision it can grant, because at this time it becomes more important. Getting it at 4 is accetable, although I'm not sure it will be really useful. As badmafa pointed out however, getting it at level 2 is a good idea if there's a jungling Enigma/Chen on the other side because otherwise you might get ganked. It depends on the situation and your playstyle. Poison Nova is taken whenever possible, this is a no-brainer. Now, after 11, you have to decide whether you get Stats or the last levels of Plague Ward. It all depends on the game. If you’re dying too much, get stats. Only one level of Plague Ward is needed, the others are good additions for pushing and such, but if you have trouble surviving, you should forget about them.

Now, to solve once and for all the question of early Plague Wards : you're a ganker, getting them early will delay your offensive power and make you into a laner, probably stealing farm from your carry.
There's ONE, and only ONE situation where maxing Plague Wards early is possible, and that's if you go for a pure pushing line-up. Something that constantly pushes all three lanes at once. Ezalor, Leshrac, Broodmother, Pugna... it's possible to get such a team.
Plague Wards have one big advantage over summons such as Spiderlings : they're magic immune. That Pit Lord is going to feel useless when none of his aoe spells can stop your push. Keep in mind that with this build, a single Vanguard makes you kinda useless, but Plague Wards give very few experience (12, 25 at lvl 4 iirc) and gold, so you aren't feeding them if they manage to kill your wards.
Go for Gale (FB is still possible)PW/PW/Sting/PW/Nova/PW/Gale*3/Nova, then decide between stats and the other levels of Sting. It will have lost much of its power by then, so stats are probably a better option if you went this route.
But that's one situation that won't happen a lot. Maxing Plague Wards early if you're laning with Huskar or Juggernaut is just completely retarded and it wastes the potential of your lane.

V Item build

Start off with some basic regen (1 set of tangoes + 1 salve + 1 or 2 clarity(ies) I'd say) and stat items. If the level of the game calls for it, grab either a chicken or a set of wards. I personally prefer the wards and let another support get the chick, then I'll upgrade it if I get FB for instance.
So here is your core :

Alright, that’s your core. You’re oriented support, so it’s not that expensive.
Boots of Speed are a no-brainer. Even if your natural movespeed is low, you don’t really need the upgrades. BoT are excellent, but are a luxury, and tbh I finish most of my games with BoS.
Magic Wand is just great to have on most heroes, and Veno is no exception. Might grant you the mana needed to land that Gale or Nova, or simply heal you enough to survive a gank. Also gives you some needed stats.
One random bracer is there to fill space, don’t bother with it if you’re doing well and can afford Point Booster but Veno is paper and against Pudge or Lina for instance, I would definitely get one.
Bottle is here because you're a ganker, so this item perfectly fits your role. Theory-speaking, it is not really wise to get one if your team already has 2 (or more) other bottle-users (especially if you have someone like Tinker who NEEDS the runes), but it's the most cost-efficient item for regenerating purposes so now I almost always get one for Veno. Bottle-crow is also a powerful option if you can't afford to get the runes.
And now, Aghanim’s Scepter. There is no better item for Venomancer. First of all, it gives useful stats and hp/mana that will definitely help you. At level 16 (unfortunately not before like it does for Clock), it will give your ultimate an absurd cooldown of 60 seconds. It means you can almost spam it every gank while still having it up for big fights. Not only that, it also significantly boosts your damage (unlike Crix who gets +110 damage)
So, that’s only 5 items, actually 4 since you will often sell that bracer to buy Ogre Axe. This is because first, you should ALWAYS carry a TP scroll with you. That means you shouldn’t EVER run around with 3 pieces of Scepter, just let one in base and complete it when you have everything. TP Scrolls save towers, teammates, and yourself.
The last slot should be reserved for wards/dust if your team needs them. You are an item-independent support hero (though a fast Aghanim’s is devastating), hence you should be the one getting wards or dust for the team if there’s a need for it.

About the boots : as of 6.66b, sticking with BoS until later isn't the best choice anymore. Phase will give you impressive damage which is good since your natural physical damage is quite low and the Phase ability is still as useful as ever. On the other hand, Treads are damn cheap and they can give some health. The movespeed is a bit low though, and the AS is quite wasted. Get them if you're dying too much because it's a hard game or you got outplayed or something.

As of 6.67, there's really NO reason whatsoever to skip Aghanim's Scepter. The damage boost is just more than what any other item could provide, and it gives survivability as well.

Optional items :

Urn of Shadows
Urn is great on any support hero, so don't hesitate to get it if there aren't too much in your team already (if there are two urns in the same area, only one will get a charge when an enemy hero dies). Provides some mana regeneration as well as welcome hps and another DoT nuke for you, or a quick heal after a gank.

Force Staff
A lulz item that can save you, net you a kill and so much. It's cheap and it gives you mana that you need (should get this right after Point Booster imo), so there's nothing wrong with getting it. It can also act as a pseudo-initiation item to get off a better Nova without spending 2150 gold only for that.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity
Another cheap item, and very cost effective. Can save you or allow you to hold an enemy to give your allies the time to come. I'm not really a fan of this item but there's nothing wrong with getting it. And as Lycan points out :

Quote:

also when it's lategame you've inniated and went for a nukerbuild... what are you gonna do after casting your shit... better to eul yourself most of the time.

Kelen’s Dagger
Some people like this item on Veno. After all, he got a potentially gamebreaking AoE ultimate, so it seems to require a dagger. Well…not really. You should NOT be the first one to enter a fight, but rather the second one. Your ult does a lot of damage, but it doesn’t stun, slow or anything. Let that Earthshaker or Axe blink in first, and then just follow up. Moreover, Poison Nova has a very large AoE and doesn’t really need placement like Reverse Polarity does.

Kadghar's Pipe of Insight
Against heavy magical damage line-ups, a Pipe might be needed. I would rather have a real tank buy this, but if they can’t afford it (getting owned for instance) or your team has no tank, it is acceptable to get it. It will also increase your own survivability against spells. Try to have Point Booster before though, it will really help you.
Now that it isn't stackeable anymore and its build-up doesn't give any armor, you should really let a real tank get this item.

Ghost Scepter
This should be bought if there are some heavy DPSers in the enemy team that are farmed enough to kill you in a few hits. You should probably get this right after Aghanim's Scepter, because that's when physical damage-dealers will probably start shining.
Now that it upgrades to Ethereal Blade it's even better than before, but you shouldn't feel forced to upgrade it in every game where you get it. Sometimes a Hex could help you a lot more.

Luxury items :
Now there are two possible kind of items you can get (or more like, try to get) as luxuries : either moar support items, or you can also go semi-carry route. Veno is really a subpar carry because he got no scaling skill and his agi gain is under the average (PotM has 2.75 for instance) and he also has a rather weak base damage, but he can still become scary if the game drags on. I don't personally advocate this route, but it is acceptable if there's no real carry in your team or if the carries are noobs/got ganked too much and falled behind in gold.

Ethereal Blade (this belongs to neither categories actually, it's not a carry item but not a caster item either so I just put it there)
Either read the WHOLE paragraph or consider it as a REJECTED ITEM! It can be good, but you need to understand how it works for that.

Ah... the new, classy item that almost no one buys. When you first look at it, it seems to be the perfect lategame item for Venomancer : it gives the highest agility in the game to enhance his physical damage, is made of Ghost Scepter that can sometimes help you against heavy DPSers (Ursa comes to mind) and improves magical damage, which 3 of your skills are using.
But there is one problem : Ethereal Blade interacts weirdly with some of your skills due to mechanics problems. Here is how it works for every skill :
Venomous Gale : If you cast Ethereal Blade before casting it, the buff will be applied but the initial damage won't, despite the animation (the "100!" will still appear and the little sound will still be played). If Ethereal Blade is cast after Venomous Gale, there's no special interaction except improving the damage of one instance of the DoT.
Poison Nova : Works perectly fine if you cast Ethereal Blade BEFORE it. However, if you cast Nova first and Ethereal Blade afterwards, the buff will simply be removed from the banished target and your ultimate will be completely WASTED.
Poison Sting : Buff is removed from the target when Ethereal Blade is cast, but since EB slows for 30% and the damage isn't significant anymore, you don't really lose anything.

So, it's a nice luxury item, but it should NEVER replace Aghanim's Scepter, and in most games you shouldn't ever get 3300 gold in a row. But well, it can happen and this item is definitely not a bad choice in this situation.

Boots of Travel
If the game drags on, Boots of Travel will become more and more powerful for the added mobility and the priceless teleportation ability. You’re also quite a good pusher and tower sieger, so you can take down a tower after a teamfight for instance.
Never hesitate to sell your other boots to get BoT, it's really worth it when all your outer towers are gone and mobility becomes key. A teamfight without you can mean the loss of the game even if you're not the most gamebreaking hero during lategame.

Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse
The item I usually aim for after BoT, though I almost never complete it since game is over before. You’re a support, so play like a support. At that time, at least one enemy carry/semi-carry is farmed and scary, and 3.5 seconds of disable can decide the outcome of a battle, thus of the game. (have you ever seen three raxes down in a single push? It did happen to me, great when you’re in the winning side, not when you’re getting owned at the last second^^)

Orchid Malevolence
Serves the same purpose as Guinsoo’s, but against int carries (quite an old-fashioned concept that post-6.60 players might not understand... but watch 13abyknight's Storm and you'll get it more easily ) that rely on their spells to kill and/or survive. Heroes such as Necrolyte, QoP or Storm Spirit might force you to get this if you ever want to kill them.
I don't recommand this item for like 95% of the games, but sometimes it can become needed, especially against Storm, on which Silence > Stun (since usually the former lasts longer than the latter, and half a second is enough for Storm to GTFO). The easy build-up is also very nice, but the manaregen is completely overkill.

Shiva's Guard
MOAR AoE slow is always cool, and the aura is very valuable lategame when autoattacking heroes shine the most. Armor might help you survive two more seconds, too.

Those were the support items you could aim for as luxuries, but remember you ain't supposed to farm too much. Sometimes though you'll get Triple Kills or such so you better use that gold wisely

Now the semi-carrying items that are decent on Veno :

Manta Style
Manta Style is a really good item for a lot of heroes, so there's no reason why it wouldn't work with Veno if you want some DPS. Gives some health with ult orb, agility that's always welcome and moar movespeed so that you can chase even better. Images will probably die in a split second but casting it can remove some annoying buffs or temporary add some firepower. Helps to take down towers, also.
Note that Images get a fake Poison Sting buff which does nothing.

The Butterfly
I really don't like putting this item here, but I must face the truth : any butterfly-wielding agility hero is damn scary lategame (yes, even NA, I've actually seen noobs NA with Butterfly + BF carry a game, what a sad vision :/ ), so it can "somewhat" work. But then again that shouldn't be your primary role and a Guinsoo's can be a LOT more gamebreaking lategame than a fifth Butterfly in your team.

Rejected items :
Lothar's Edge
If you feel like you need an initiation item (but then please go read again the reasons why you should NOT be doing this with Veno, as you aren't Crixalis or Enigma), then get Dagger but not this. WW isn't a reliable escape mechanism (it can work even against dust because of the +ms, but any targeted stun will screw you) and the damage is kinda wasted. There's really no reason to get this item. :/ Point Booster will boost your survivability more than this for something like a third of the price.

Sange & Yasha
This item just fails on Venomancer. You don’t really need the movespeed and maim orb is wasted because you got two slows, one of which is one of the best non-ultimate ones.You don’t need the str since anyway Aghanim’s provides more hps. The only good part about this item is its cheap cost, but then again Aghanim's isn't really more expensive (actually it's less expensive) and is made of Point Booster, a really cost-effective item.
If you really want movespeed that badly, get a single Yasha and turn it into Manta later.

/ Orbs (and even worse, buff placers)
Lifesteal and other orbs aren't for you. Mjollnir's AS is quite useless (Poison Sting only works every 7 seconds, it's not like you have a skill with a proc chance) except for the Static Charge buff, so you *could* get one if Axe is in your team because of the obvious synergy.
Skadi doesn't stack with Poison Sting, and I already talked specifically about S&Y's case.
The only orb that could be gotten is Diffusal Blade because of the purge, ONLY if no one else can get it (either they are int/str or they're agi with a natural orb such as Broodmother) or the other guy ran out of charges 'cause the game is getting very, very long.

Quite a boring part, but it's needed I think. I see too much people with wrong items for Veno, then they wonder why they're getting owned by that Mortred/Troll/PL, who's a real carry.

Now, let's get to a more interesting part :

VI Gameplay Walkthrough

Early game
Get your starting items, then head for the rune closest to your short lane (Sentinel bot/Scourge top, I know some people call it long lane, but for me it’s short since you will fight at your tower). You should try to get a First Blood, unless your lanemate got a useless hero like Clinkz (I don’t consider Mortred useless for this since she can slow). At 0:00, the rune will spawn. If there’s one where you are : good for you, you are lucky. Take it (unless it’s a Regeneration, obviously) and go own your enemies. Double Damage, Haste and Illusion rune all mean a sure kill most of the time, while Invisibility is a bit less powerful in this situation. If there’s no rune, you can still try to get a kill, but DO NOT get too much greedy and chase past tower only to die.
You can also get First Blood mid, but it is harder since the enemy hero will be closer to his tower. Last time I did it with Ogre Magi + Viper for instance. That’s two slows and a stun, and it was enough to get the kill. It’s really good if you can do it because it will give a huge advantage to your own solo. I forgot to say it, but the said solo should NOT be you, you’re much better in a lane. Soloing the short lane 1v2 is fine though if you have a jungler, even if it wastes a bit of your early game potential.
After your First Blood (hopefully), it’s not time to rest, at all. Constantly harass your enemies, especially if they are melee. At level 3, you can usually get a kill with your lane partner. If not, at least you will send an enemy (preferably a carry) back to base, making him lose valuable experience and gold, and leaving his ally much more vulnerable. At level 5 you should usually gank mid. As I already said, Venomous Gale deals huge damage at this time, plus your solo should be level 7 and able to do quite a lot of damage on his own. At level 6, you get your ultimate. Your combo deals around 500 hps after reduction. Add to this the 50 damage from Poison Sting (if it’s lvl 2) and your own damage, and you can pretty much kill anyone except hard tanks like Roof. (even Centaur isn't that bulky at this stage of the game)
Early game ends when you reach level 7-8.

Mid game
Mid game is the time for you to shine. You deal a lot of damage while enemies still have low health pools. At this time, you shouldn’t be seen laning and farming for more than a couple of minutes, unless you want to disrupt the farm of an enemy carry. (like come in, attack him to get a Sting, last-hit some creeps, attack him again a few times, go back ganking or helping teammates)
Your Gale is spammable, so you can really gank the whole time. You got a stick to help you regen, and maybe a bottle, that will usually be enough. Try not to waste your ultimate on lone heroes unless it’s needed (either to scare enemy gankers or to help you getting a kill during a tough fight) as it has a pretty long cooldown as well as a really high manacost.
Be sure to always have a TP scroll with you, because the first teamfights will start occurring at that time. Your ult is devastating, and anyone hit by it will usually die.
There aren’t too much to say about this time, even if it’s your best one. Just keep on ganking, making sure your carry can farm and the enemy one got nothing.
Mid game ends when you reach level 14-16 and you hopefully have your core items.

Late game
Unless you got owned hard, you have your Scepter by now and maybe a luxury. You can use your ultimate on every gank, and it still deals very high damage (more than Laguna Blade or Finger of Death, even with Scepter) even if it will be getting less and less effective due to heroes getting more regeneration. However, since the Heart nerf (Lil’ zerg thanks you for that IceFrog! <3) it will be really hard for enemies to completely negate your damage, since Vanguard and Hood remain situational. Pipe rapes you hard though, and if there is another aoe ultimate in your team, be sure that you will have to face one, maybe less now that it got nerfed. (armorless build-up and not stackeable anymore)
Try to push as much as possible with your team by now. You can no longer solo-kill anyone except squishy supports like Crystal Maiden or Chen. Most heroes can 1v1 you without any problem, and TPs own your Damage over Time spells, so when your allies aren’t here, you can’t do much.
Late game, either team will attempt to kill Roshan. If you notice that enemies are missing (and you didn’t ward the area), you can always plant a Plague Ward at Rosh thanks to its long casting range. It already made me win decisive battles. Some people call it “maphack” when actually it’s just intuition. =)
You could also solo Rosh with your Wards, but you shouldn’t. Why? Because you would get ganked VERY easily (and it takes you a shitload of time to do it, unlike Ursa), and more importantly, you would offer a free Aegis to the enemy team, as well as the gold from Roshan. If your team tries to help you, they will be fucked because of the 4v5 most of the time, so not only will you die, some of your teammates are likely to die too.

Roaming

You can decide to play Veno as a roamer. Roaming basically means that you won't stay in a lane for more than a couple of waves, and that you will always be travelling from lane to lane in order to gank your enemies or scare the shit out of them.
Veno is one of the few heroes who can do this because Gale's slow is 50% at all levels and starting from lvl 2 he got a 60% slow. He's also quite item-independent, which means that having a very low farming won't hurt him too much. On the other hand, he's in no way the best roamer out there, so if you really want a scary roamer you should probably get Vengeful Spirit instead.
If you want to roam, you should still try to get FB as described above. But instead of harassing the enemies, you head to another lane (probably mid) and gank there. It doesn't even matter if the gank fails, putting pressure is enough for your own solo to take some experience and gold advantage over the enemy solo. Then go in a side lane again, and again and again...
If you're roaming, you should get a lot more wards than usually since you'll be travelling more than the other heroes.
Roaming WILL get you underleveled and underfarmed. It can be a rewarding strategy but it can also fail and in this case you're kinda screwed because being underleveled means your spells aren't doing as much damage as they should.
Even in the case of a roaming Veno, the Mid-game and Late-game paragraphs still apply, as roaming doesn't really mean a lot after Early-game ended.
Not to mention, doing this requires you to have a team you can actually trust. NEVER roam in a pub, unless you have at least 2 friends playing with you.

Trilane

'k, so this isn't likely to happen in a pub (unless a group of friends are stomping it), but in other games, it can be quite common so I thought I could mention it.
Basically, you get two solos (usually mid and sentinel bot/scourge top) and the three others go in the last lane. This is mainly done to ensure complete lane domination, since the enemies will be forced into a passive playstyle. You get a trilane mainly to ruin an enemy carry's farm and to give freefarm to your own carry.
A good trilane for instance is Leoric + Venomancer + Lion. It has two stuns, one hex and a powerful slow. Notice that the lane is made of two item-independent heroes and one carry, and the two supporters are ranged to harass more easily. Trilanes with 2 melees are less powerful (I guess they could work if the melee was Ogre for instance), and if you trilane with two carries, you defeat the purpose of it since they will be fighting for farm.
You might end up underleveled in a trilane (this is the main reason why I used to think that trilanes suck tbh), but actually if you and the other support deny like they should, you can have a decent level, sometimes even higher than the enemies' if you forced them out of experience range and/or killed them.

VII Using your Skills

Alright, so this is the part when I'll try to teach you into details how to play Veno.

1. First Blood

Okay, those are not the pictures I wanted to have, but they do show how powerful can Gale's slow be when used with the right partner at early levels to get a First Blood.

I just casted lvl 1 Gale on him (I'm only lvl 2, although Jugg is 3) and he's screwed. Well, in his case it's even worse because Storm has naturally low movespeed, but it works just as well with almost any hero -heroes who are immune to that are Undying or Abaddon for instance, because of big healthpool and heal/shield- .

Here's what happens after a few seconds, the outcome of the fight seems pretty obvious for me so I didn't feel like putting the third pic' where you actually see Storm die.

I'll try to get some lvl 1 FB pics but it's kinda hard, there's always something happening when I try that in -cm (such as enemies going for a trilane top, or passive Jugg who just wants to farm creeps even if FB = 425 gold, etc...) because well, Luck and me aren't really friends. -_-'

2. Venomous Gale

This spell is pretty easy to use : just click on the ground and see the projectile fly and spell doom for your enemies.
Unlike a lot of aoe nukes (Shockwave for instance), clicking right on the enemy or on the floor won't change anything. This also means that there's no way of being sure that it will hit, sometimes if you missclick the enemy will just escape, laughing at you.
There's just one thing you have to know : the actual range is slightly longer than the casting range. Here are two pictures showing that :

Here the little target is exactly at 800 range from Veno. Notice that it's quite a long range actually, so never hesitate to throw one random Gale at a running enemy if you think it has the slightest chance of hitting. The projectile is faster than any hero excluding ROFLing Storm.

And here you see that the Necromancer was still poisoned.

Obviously this probably won't matter in most your games, but you should still keep this in mind when playing Venomancer. DotA is a subtle game and a slight difference can mean a lot in some fights.

Second tip coming when I get a decent screen, this one can't be gotten against creeps unlike the previous.

3. Poison Sting

'k, this is a passive so there aren't a lot to say about it (some passives are quite interesting, but not really this one), refer to the notes in the skill's description for technical details.
Its main use is for harassing your lane opponents to death, especially against melee heroes. Venomancer is one of the few heroes who can completely screw an agressive Axe's early game, as well as kill him fairly easily without any danger of retaliation.
Too bad I had a lulz pic but seems like I don't have the replay 'cause BL is acting weird these times. Basically Jugg had been harassed to death and we had a lot of creeps (since they couldn't get near them). But he has his tower so he stays around to get exp and maybe gold. And then he draws aggro and gets owned by the creeps (a dozen of them, we're at like lvl 3-4) solely because of the harassment^^

4. Plague Wards

Use them mainly to scout or prevent juking. It is especially useful for checking Roshan without taking the risk of getting raped in a split second.

Notice the very long casting range. Use this to your advantage when trying to keep a juking enemy in sight until Gale's cooldown is over. (or any long-ranged spell your teammates may be able to cast soon)
The picture is taken from a sologame just for the guide, but it actually happened to me at least once to pop a ward and the whole enemy team was Roshing. I don't remember the details of the fight but my team won it (I most probably died in the process, though) and then someone said "maphack!" while I had been checking like that for the past ten minutes or more. Remember : at 30th minute and more, Roshing becomes quite easy and you should check as often as possible if you notice that a lot of enemies have been missing for a minute or so. Don't get fooled because you saw one of them on the map, unless he's their main carry obviously. Even then it might be an illusion so always be careful.

I'll upload a picture to illustrate the anti-juking if I ever get a decent screen of that happening.

5. Poison Nova

This is rather easy to use : wait for your initiator to wtfstun everyone, go in and click 'F' (or any hotkey you have on that spell), then win the fight.
There's one interesting fact about Poison Nova though, and it's another reason why I don't really like Dagger for Veno : if an enemy unit is at the edge of the aoe, the poison will "jump" on him and he'll get hit just as if he had been standing right next to you.

Here is a picture illustrating that :

That's the theoretical range. Quite large, but nothing too impressive either.

Here I just went a little closer and... the creeps get hit! (look at the previous screen, even the big troll got hit) Look how the range seems a lot longer than in the first screen.
Abuse this to hit 4+ enemies during each teamfight. Unlike Magnus, you DO NOT NEED to be in the middle of the fight to hit everyone. Poison Nova has a huge aoe, use that.

Early game though, big fights with 8+ people won't be happening. You should use Nova in hard ganks (or if you're getting ganked, you can easily bring someone with you and that's better than just running and dying anyway) as a combo with Gale.
At level 7, your "combo" deals 350 + 432 + 70 = 852 magical damage, which means 639 damage after reduction. That's not counting the hits you're probably going to get in, and maybe Poison Sting will actually apply twice on the target if the fight/chase gets a bit long.
You can see that it's quite a bit, so don't hesitate to go in. You can easily gank 1v2 if the said 2 heroes aren't full health and you're SURE that you can pull off Gale + Nova before they permadisable or instagib you. Probably won't happen a lot, but it's possible.

That's it for this part, this one looks a bit better than the walls of text before and after, doesn't it?

VIII Friends and foes

Juggernaut
This guy deserves a special mention. He's your single best lane partner in the game imo, for a very simple reason : he benefits more from a long slow than from a short stun. His BladeFury deals 400 damage (yes, that's more than all lvl 4 nukes) at level ONE if he can get near the enemy for the whole duration (5 seconds) . Almost assured First Blood if he's with you, and he's hopefully gonna be fed some kills (you aren't supposed to get said kills, but it's better if you get it than if the enemy escapes, obviously) to ensure some good mid-game ownage. Since Jugg is magic immune while spinning, he also doesn't care about the fact that the enemies will probably want to throw a stun, since they aren't stunned themselves. (hm I feel like this is not clear, so I'll do it again : a slowed enemy, unlike a stunned one, can cast his spells so one of you two is likely to get hit by a disable of some kind. Since Jugg is magic immune while using BladeFury, they either have to wait until his spin is over (at which point one of them is probably dead) or they have to stun you and let him get a kill)

Ancient Apparition
That's a bit more theorycrafting because I haven't had the chance to test this lane yet, but it looks promising : almost no hero can run out of Cold Feet's range if he's slowed by 50%, so that's a sure 3.5 seconds stun everytime you attack the enemies. One thing is certain, I wouldn't like facing that lane. Problem is that you're both supports, so in that case you should focus a bit more on farming than usually I guess. A fast Aghanim's is devastating.

Orb-walkers
They get a special mention because they really combo with you earlygame. A bit like Jugg', they prefer your long slow rather than a short stun because that's enough for them to orb-walk the enemy to death. Both of you are also ranged which makes it even easier to make the enemy's laning impossible.

Other friends are :

Initiators
Those guys are the main reason why you don't really need a Dagger. Their job is to jump in and wtfstun everyone, so that you can come after and release Poison Nova and Venomous Gale on their whole team. They're also much more tanky than you so they might actually survive the fight.

Agressive early game heroes
They like you because together with them you can ensure some early-game domination to give some advantage to your team's carry(ies) . Lina and Leshrac are specific because Gale allows them to land their stun much more easily, thus ensuring some kills.

Now guys that you'll hate are mostly :

Healers, aka fags
They simply ruin your game. In lane, they will prevent you from getting any kill, forcing you into a passive laning that wastes one of your best parts. Try ganking other lanes or even roaming if you're against a lane with a healer. During teamfights they'll render your Nova almost useless too.
Omni is the worst because Repel > you. It's worth getting a diffusal blade against him.

Khadgar's Pipe of Insight
This doesn't counter you as hard as the dudes above, but will still make your presence negligible during teamfights. There isn't a lot you can do about that except trying to lure them into using it at a wrong moment and THEN using Nova. Most likely you'll just have to do with it :/

Instagibbers
You're squishy and you have low armor, so you're a perfect target for those. Map awareness and wards will help you avoid getting instakilled too often. And remember : in a teamfight, if you casted Gale and Nova, the most important part of your work is done. If they want to kill you at that time... let them do it and enjoy the triple kill of your Kunkka ally. =)

IX Playing against him

Actually, that part is mostly there because the table of content was copypasted from my old Strygwyr guide, and since he's one of the best stompers, people need to learn how to counter him. Veno isn't the same hero but I'll still mention a few useful tips against him :
-HOOD and PIPE will make him a lot less harmful for your team. If Veno has other powerful nukers in his team, a Hood or just a single Cloak for half your team isn't a bad idea (pure supports have probably better items to get and they're kinda bound to die anyway ; in an -ap pub everyone could get said Hood though)
-TPs > DoT. Now that's only theory because Veno will most likey be with disabling allies, but juke + TP can still do it. Early game though, you might die from his combo even after TP'ing since the fountain regen is %-based and not his damage. I mean, regenerating 40 hps/s while losing 100 can still get you killed if you were low when TP'ing.
-If Veno is in the opposite team, you should play very carefully early game because he can really ruin one (or more if he goes roaming) of your lanes. Try to get a dual ranged lane against him and people with heals/natural regeneration (Broodmother, DK for instance)

Those little points can really help you against the DotA Hydralisk. I won't mention obvious ones such as getting wards and such.

X Veno in organized games

This is aimed at -cm or -cd captains who would like trying Veno, because he's quite underrated and captains probably wouldn't think about picking him in most games. The main problem with Veno is that he's easily counterpicked, and that he can fail miserably if he's not in the right situation. That being said, he can still be a decent pick : think about Storm who can wtfrape a game (not only talking about pubs here) or completely feed if he's countered.
First, you should always lastpick him if possible. Easier if you didn't have firstpick as you can be SURE that he won't get countered. But even if you had firstpick, your opponent will probably have picked all his support heroes as those are usually the first to get picked (Lion, CM, Rylai, you name them) and getting another one might not be smart from him, as almost every team needs at least a carry. (even pushing teams usually rely on a carry Broodmother in case things don't go as planned)
The second good thing about Veno is that, being fairly item-independent, he can help warding/dusting, and thus allow your main supporter to get some decent items for himself. It's probably personal preference, but I'm not a fan of the 24-wards support with 1/10/4 and boots at the end of the game. Much better imo if you have two 12-wards supports (or 16-8 for instance) but all your heroes have 1000 hps or more and no one is feeding as hell.
The third thing is that, as I already said above, he can be really deadly early game and feed a carry some easy gold both with the kills and by constantly putting pressure on the enemy. Your lane opponents won't be harassing your melee carry if they lose 100 hps when they're approaching because of a nasty Zerg. The constant threat from a Gale also helps with that, as a 50% slowed, half-hp hero is usually a dead one.
The fourth point is "abuse his perks and even his drawbacks". His main drawback is that 75% of his damage (even more than that early game) is both magical and over time, thus countered both by regeneration and magic resistance. Then... why wouldn't you get some physical-oriented heroes with him? Get him a Dazzle as ally and enemies will have to get both magic resistance and high armor since Dazzle's spells are ALL physical (yeah, even his nukes) What about Slardar? If that Viper runs around with a Hood (+ his passive) but 900 hps and low armor, he's gonna die in three hits from a Desolator Slardar.
And a last thing : Veno is often compared to Venge, who's a pure roamer. Of course, if you only take that into account, there's no reason to pick Veno over her. But first, she's often banned seeing as powerful she is and how annoying it is to play against her. What can you do if your main carry gets swapped and raped in two seconds? But Veno also has an AoE ult which deals a shitload of damage early game (less than SK's one though, but this one has 2 seconds channeling which can become a problem when he doesn't have his dagger and it doesn't deal full damage if target isn't close enough), and as I already said sometimes a long slow is better than a short stun. Veno can also harass easily, thus allowing his ally some freefarm and preventing the enemies from getting more than one creep every minute.

Well, I hope this "little" paragraph will show you that while Veno isn't a top-pick that works in every game like Venge/Kunkka, he got some serious points and he definitely deserves to be seen more.

Guide To qop

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:20:00 +0000

(English is not my best language, so there will be some mistakes I think)

Foreword

This guide (my first one) is mainly for beginners. It could be that i write sometimes a bit to "pro"-like (I'm NOT pro^^) and that beginners don't understand me. But I hope it's useful for good players, too.
It's about my favorite hero: Akasha the Queen of Pain. After she was nerved to death, she became a more common hero in 6.63 because of a buff of Scream of Pain and Shadow Strike.
But she is still weaker than in versions earlier versions than 6.52 because of pipe.
Because I started playing her intensively since 6.52, which was made some time ago, I've got some skill in playing her. And I will try to teach you that in this guide.
Maybe (/hopefully) you noticed this gay pink look. It makes the guide easier to read and maybe female Dota players like it

For the hasty experianced players:
Alt+Tab mini-guide
(Not my idea, I saw this in some other guide^^)

Quote:

Skillbuild:
9x
Items:
Starting

Core

Supportive

Semi-Carry

Anti-Nukes/Stunns/Disables

Tips
- Choose preferable a solo lane
- Go ganking in early-midgame
- Use Blink to move around, dodge and pass cliffs, and chase, that means nearly every time possible when you have a bit mana regeneration
- Always let other team mates (the initiator) begin fights.

1.0 Hero Information
1.1 Story
1.2 Pros / Cons
1.3 Roles
2.0 Skills
2.1 Information / Using
2.2 Conclusion
2.3 Synergies
2.4 Skill Build
2.5 Area of influence
2.6 Litte Blink Guide
3.0 Items
3.1 Starting Items
3.2 Core Items
3.3 Advanced Items
3.4 Alternatives
3.5 Rejected Items
3.6 Dangerous Items
3.7 Item Synergies
3.8 How to use...
4.0 Strategy
4.1 Early Game
4.2 Mid Game
4.3 Lategame
4.4 Ganking
4.5 Clashes
5.0 Allies / Enemies
5.1 Allies
5.2 Enemies
6.0 The golden rules to play Akasha
7.0 Replays
8.0 Credits

Hero Information

Here are some things that saying you nothing and you don't want to know: The stats
(Year it's stolen from here )

* Affiliation: Scourge
* Attack Animation: 0.56 / 0.41
* Damage: 45 - 53
* Casting Animation: 0.452 / 1.008
* Armor: 1.6
* Base Attack Time: 1.7
* Movespeed: 300
* Missile Speed: 1500
* Attack Range: 550
* Sight Range: 1800 / 800

16 + 1.7
18 + 2
24 + 2.5

All in all: Her stats aren't very decent. The base damage is fairly ok, the strength is low (very balanced because you have Blink), the agility fairly high for a intelligence hero (but that just matters for the semi-carry build) and the intelligence is fairly good since version 6.65. Her int gain is ok, but nothing special for a int hero. The agi gain is high for a int hero, but the str one isn't. But that is ok, when she would have too much mana or life she would be a bit too hard to kill because of Blink.

Story

Akasha is one of the many souls claimed by the blade, Frostmourne. Raised to serve the Lich King as a Banshee, she desired to become pure substance once more. Driving deep into the forests, she was able to subdue and possess a Succubus minion. Rightly bearing the title, Queen of Pain, she enjoys nothing more than inflicting massive damage on her foes, using both the poisonous strikes of her succubus host and the vicious howls retained from her Banshee nature. Akasha breaks her enemies' eardrums with torturing screams, some so loud they manifest into powerful waves that ripple across the lands, shattering all in their wake.

Notice: She was a Night Elve, i think. Look here

Pros/Cons

Pros

+ Very strong midgamer
+ Not completely useless in the other stages of the game
+ Good ganker
+ Blink is a wonderful escape, chase and moving over the map skill
+ Good farming
+ Tons of AoE Damage

Cons

- Low hp
- Disablers are your death
- You are getting weaker in Late Game
- You have no disable, just a slow.

Roles
Akasha has different roles in the team.
1. AoE - Sonicwave / Scream of Pain
2. Ganker - Blink / Shadowstrike / Scream of Pain
3. Semi-Carry - Items (Look at the item part) / Blink / Shadowstrike
4. Antipusher - Scream of Pain / Sonicwave

Skills

Information / Using

For a more detailed description of the skills look here.

Shadow Strike

Information

Hurls a poisoned dagger which deals large initial damage, and then deals damage ever three seconds over 15 seconds. The poisoned unit has its movement speed slowed for a short duration.

Level 1 - 50 strike damage, 10 duration damage and slows 20%
Level 2 - 70 strike damage, 20 duration damage and slows 30%
Level 3 - 70 strike damage, 40 duration damage and slows 40%
Level 4 - 100 strike damage, 50 duration damage and slows 50%

Mana: 80 / 100 / 120 / 140

Cooldown: 20 / 17 / 14 / 11 seconds

Using

- Mainly for ganking, use it when the ganked hero runs away
- NOT for harassing. You could do this, but you should not skill this early. I will explain it after the skill build.
- You can also use it on heros like Bloodseeker that are fast enough to chase you when you blink away.
- You shouldn't await to kill someone with it. If you follow my skill build, you will not skill this before level 10. And on this level it doesn't really hurt someone.
- The skill is based on Warden's the normal Shadow Strike.
- Does not stack with Viper strike.

Blink

Information

Short distance teleportation that allows one to move in and out of combat.

Level 1 - 200 - 700 Range Teleportation
Level 2 - 200 - 850 Range Teleportation
Level 3 - 200 - 1000 Range Teleportation
Level 4 - 200 - 1150 Range Teleportation

Mana: 60

Cooldown: 12 / 10 / 8 / 6 seconds

Using

- Fleeing. That should be obviously. Blink away if you have low hp
- Chasing. Obviously, too. Blink to the fleeing hero
- Moving around the map.
- You can also dodge skills like Hellfire Blast with it
- The skill is based on Warden's Blink
- When you aiming a point behind the maximum range of blink, you will not blink the maximum range. You can see it here:

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1278x390.

-> too far

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1278x370.

-> right
- You can fake blink by pressing the Blink hotkey and then stop a few times. There will be still an animation. You can see it here

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Scream of Pain

Information

The Queen of Pain lets loose a piercing scream, damaging nearby enemies.

Level 1 - 85 damage
Level 2 - 165 damage
Level 3 - 225 damage
Level 4 - 300 damage

Mana: 140 / 140 / 140 / 140

Cooldown: 7 seconds

Using

- This is your main damage skill, so use it whenever you want to make damage
- In a teamfight you have to be careful. Because you have to be nearly in the center of the other team, you will die quickly. More to this you will find in the strategy part.
- You don't hit units that are invisible or in fog. Sometimes you don't even hit units that are directly next to you because they are in fog for a second.
- The skill is based on Warden's Fan of Knifes, just the knifes are replaced by Banshee's attack effect.

Sonic Wave

Information

Creates a gigantic wave of sound which deals heavy damage to all units in a line.

Level 1 - 290 damage
Level 2 - 430 damage
Level 3 - 600 damage

Mana: 250 / 360 / 500

Cooldown: 135 / 135 / 135 seconds

Using

- You should use this in a clash and try to hit all enemy heroes. More to this at the strategy part.
- Also you can finish a fleeing hero even when he is invisible fairly easy because of the big Aoe.
- This skill is based on Dreadlord's Carrion Swarm.
Here is a picture that shows you the Aoe. You can see that its getting bigger. It's hard to see the AoE, because Icefrog changed the Sonic Wave effect in 6.54. But i made a copy of the skill in a own map. The wave flys 1000 warcraft meters and the aoe grows from 100 to 300.

Conclusion
All in all, her skills are a bit unimaginative (3/4 skills are Warden's ones) and ... relatively bad. Shadow Strike is a joke of a Venomous Gale, her Blink is a worse version of Magina's once, her ulti doesn't do as much damage as other AoE ultis (Sandking, Lich) or has a stun/disable (Tidehunter / Rooftrellen). And her Scream of Pain is not as good as Death Pulse. The reason why she was a firstpick in <6.52 is just the combination of all skills that makes her very dangerous.

Synergies
+ = Chasing and fleeing as I said before
+ = Blinking to be near to you enemy and damage him
+ = Aoe damage combo for teamfights
+ + +
= Blink to your target, use SS, Scream, Blink, Scream, Blink Scream till he has low hp and finish with your ultimate. That way you don't just do Aoe damage, you can also kill single targets. You don't make high burst damage like slayer, but you are harder to get rid of.

Skill Build

Blink
Scream Of Pain
Scream Of Pain
Blink/Shadow Strike
Scream Of Pain
Sonic Wave/Blink
Scream Of Pain
Blink
Blink/Sonic Wave
Shadow Strike/Blink
Sonic Wave
Shadow Strike
Shadow Strike
Shadow Strike
Stats
Sonic Wave
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats

This is my recommended and the most common build.
Some people recommend to skill Shadow Strike one time at the start of the game. Only do it when you are on a dual lane. You will nearly not even notice the slow on level 1. But a blink level 2 earlyer is better because it's getting hardly better on every level.
Taking Scream of Pain primary is the best choice, i think, because the damage is deadly in early game.
You CAN skill Blink instead of Sonic Wave on level 6 (Thanks to CaLLizeR). Mobility is awesome in midgame. The bad thing is that you can't use you "<440? = Dead" combo.

Area of influence

Another thing you should always use, is her Area of influence.(Aoi). A axe e.g have a very small Aoi. (Because of that he needs a dagger). With Blink and Sonic Wave, your Aoi is really high. Look at this superb imba top quality picture i made:

(When you skilled out all your skills)

High damage area
In the high damage radius you can do damage with Shadow Strike, Scream of Pain and Sonic Wave.
Radius: 1550
Damage: 775 + 250 over time (1025)
Good damage area
In the good damage radius you can do damage with Scream of Pain and Sonic Wave.
Radius: 1450
Damage: 675
Low damage area
In the low damage Radius you can do damage with Sonic Wave.
Radius: 2150
Damage: 450

Litte Blink Guide

Speed

Firstly, I want to tell you, how superb your mobility is:
Boots of Travel + Blink level 4 whenever it's possible with maximum used range every time and animation canceling
=
As fast as a hero with around 500 ms.
But you don't have to care about trees and cliffs.

This is a map with some good positions where you can use Blink to reach useful positions extremely fast. I think I don't have to make picktures like in the ganking part. You will understand it.

How to aim

As i said before, you should always use Blink's the maximum range. As I said in the description of the skill Blink, you can aim too far. In this situation you will not Blink to the farest possible position. But how can you aim right? Mainly it's experiance. Here is a picture of Level 4 Blinks distance. If you would aim too far, you would blink to Ward's position.
Maybe the distance is not that high, but it can save your life.

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The common projectile dodge

this are examples for heroes, that can shot a stunning projectiles. They are faily easy to dodge. Just concentrate and wait for their animation. They will stop moving for this. Then use you Blink quickly. It isn't as hard as you think.
But there are also the hard guys:

To dodge Alchi's stun, Snipers ultimate and (the hardest one) Tinkers missle, you need experiance. I can't really teach you that because you never know when the projectile will fly or it's simply too fast to use Blink when it does.

Items

Starting Items

1.

Let you stay longer on the lane.

2.

Let you lasthit fairly easy and nuke a bit more (mainly for lasthits because the damage will not kill someone on low levels)
Not against double stunner lanes (Crix/Mirana,Atro/Kunkka) or high damage lanes (Tinker).

3.

Buy this when you play against heroes on the mid lane who spam their skills, e.g. Zeus. Upgrade the Magic Stick to a Magic Wand.
If you are Top/Bot, take #4.

4.

The Magic Wand rush build. The pictures are a bit confusing, I know. You buy 3 GG-Branches and the RECIPE for the Wand. Then buy the Stick in the Goblin Shop. Just works if you go Top/Bot.
If you are on the mid-lane, then buy #3.

5.

The most balanced start items. Can be taken against every lane.

Core Items

Core (2070 )

Optional

Core
Helps you ganking because you will pass the runespots anyway. When you stay on your lane at the beginning you can check the runespots easily with your blink. Storing runes is always good.
For obvious reasons. Can be delayed for Null Talismans.
Get 1 or 2 Null Talismans for mana (you really need it) and a health. Some people now maybe ask : "Why not bracers?" Bracers are good on many intelligence heroes. And they are defenetively not bad on Akasha. But Null Talismans are better. You need mana for Blink. And Blink prevents you better from dying than Hp ever could. Also intelligence gives you damage that helps you lasthitting (your animation is good but your damage is low).
Optional
I don't added it to the core items, because you sometimes need it, sometimes you don't even have to buy it and sometimes you don't have a scroll in you inventory. But I highly recommend to carry always 1 or 2 with you. 135 gold can save you (blink away and use it), towers (blink to a tower, lol) and allies (Give them one or use it to kill heroes that chase you friends into towers).
I really learned to love it. It can help you ganking (ganked heros use their skills^^) more often and helps you against spamming heroes like Zeus or Bristleback.
In early/mid game team fights (it isn't really effective in lategame) you will get many charges. Look in the "How to use" part. You can swap a Null Talisman with this item or just add it (you have not enought space to add a part of a core item (Void Stone/Point Booster then).
The new item in 6.65 is a good choice for Akasha, preferable if you go ganking. The little mana regneration and the charges that you get by ganking seem to be made for that and the 6 strength will let you survive the first nukes flying around. Because you have 5 more intelligence in 6.65 you can replace a Null Talisman by it. If you wan't to use it on a enemy you should remember that it dispells.
Adding another Null Talisman is never a bad idea when you don't get enough farm.

Advanced items

Supportive

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Core

Optional

Luxury

Core
When you need more disable in your team (i personally think that you can't have enough), build Guinsoo's. It's THE item for nearly every intelligence hero in lategame and should be your first aim after core because it gives you the only important thing that Akasha doesn't have: A disable.
It gives you in combination with Blink superb mobility to gank and destroy creepwaves.
Optional
Instead rushing a Guinsoo's just with a Void Stone, you can build a Ring of Health to get this. Is a good choice if you really want to focus on ganking or want to make a Linken's or a Hood (i know, that is wasted gold but it worth it I think).
It is an often underestimated Item that is great on Akasha, especially when you play against heroes like Riki.
It gives you strength and intelligence and the 2 baby warlocks are a great help by ganking. Blink, summon , Shadow Strike, Scream of Pain and hit, hit , hit to death. Also you can kill annoying wards. Skip it if you have serious problems to micro, there are no invisible heroes or you don't need to kill wards. It also counters heroes heroes like Luna or Yunero a bit because they prevent you and your team a bit from damage and AoE heroes will think twice about using skills because they don't want to damage/kill themselves (Don't think that it really saves you from it. 600 damage (after reduction) aren't that scary).
Eul's is a possibility, too. Since 6.60 you can use it on allys. This way you can not just disable dangerous targets, you can also save allys and use it on yourself when you see that you blinked in to hasty and would die. The mana regeneration is something you really need and more ms can't be wrong.
Luxury
Shivas let you tank a bit more and gives a nice aura which is annoying in combination with Shadowstrike. A bit more Aoe can't be wrong, too.
Good synergy with Shadow Strike. Gives you also a bit hp, mana and ... ok you don't really need attack speed but agility gives you also a bit armor.
It's also possible, because it's cheaper in 6.6x and Sonic Wave's cooldown is ways too high. I'm still not a fan of this, but if you like it, why not? You can buy a really helpful Point Booster in early game after core items and build Guinsoo then. Also you can rush Guinsoo without Point Booster or rush Aghanimn's instead of Guinsoo's. Impossible is nothing^^. All in all you should know what you spend your money for: You can always use your Ultimate in clash-orientated games. The damage is not really imba, Shiva's one is higher. And the stats are fairly nice, Life and Mana are the 2 things you mainly need.

You end inventory could look like this:
Ganker

or this:
Clash-power

Semi-Carry

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Core

or
or or
Optional

Luxury

Because its a bit confusing, I made this picture. Just follow the lines of 1 colour:

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*Update 6.64: Power Treats gives you attack speed again, so you can buy it.

Core
It can be easily build up and the Oblivion Staffs are granting you improtant mana regeneration for ganking. Soul Burn has a good synergy with your skills (more damage on 1 target than with Aghanimns).
You want to make physical damage, so Power Treats are a good choice for this build.
or
As I said in the Supportive Build, it's awesome for Akasha.

Now you have good attackspeed. So lets incrase your damage with a Stygian Desolator.
Or
As I mentioned before the synergy with Akasha's skills is great. And a slow cant be better than pure damage. The stats make you not so squishi.
Or
Also a choice against heroes that have evasion or Butterfly. It has problems with Stygians and Skadi's orb effects. So just buy it if your play against evasion heroes. Buying Stygian instead is better than deactivating the bonus effect, i think.

Optional
Good synergy. Gives you in fact a little extra Blink, that you don't need, and the stats are perfect (damage, intelligence and attack speed), but low. You CAN'T push someone on cliffs. In fact it's nothing more a fun item.
Luxury
If the game isn't over you can buy a Assault Cuirass because of the good synergy with Stygian Desolator (is good with Skadi, too) the amor buff is useful, too.
It is indipendent from agility now. If you build Skadi, it's a good choice.
Pure damage. Simple but good. Buy this, if you bought Desolator, because the pure damage let you make higher red numbers than Skadi.

You end inventory could look like this:
A(r)mor destroyer

or this:
Ice, Poison and Thunder

or this:
Eagle eye

Anti Nukes / Disables

Akashas biggest weakness is that she's dying quickly against Nukes / Disables. This Items will help you. You can add one of this to every item build. I just recommend Linken's more for the Supportive and BKB more for the Semi-Carry build.

Against nukes like Laguna Blade. Upgrade it to if you have the money.
Always a good choice. Gives you nice stats, regeneration and prevents you from some stuns (be fast and use Blink to save you then) and sometimes from hard damage nukes like Laguna Blade.
Against mass disables / nukes. Is good for the semi-carry build, because you will be a main target of disables / nukes even more and the damage/hp is good for you, too.

Alternatives

I'm testing some Items in the next time.

-> Added to Supportive

Rejected Items

8250 gold. 800 damage. Useless in lategame. Buy Guinsoo's and Travels instead. Or Power Treats and Stygian. And you COULD buy Divine Reaper and Hyperstone for that money.
You aren't a tank. You can get mana and mana regeneration with better items like Guinsoo's.
Year imba double ultimate ... not. Not enough mana.
/ You ARE item dependent. You NEED your coreitems or you can not gank enough (since Icefrog nerved her clash-power the good combination of nice ganking and fairly good Aoe damage is nearly the only good reason to pick her). Let other heroes like Maiden, Warlock or Demon Witch buy this.

Dangerous Items

Reduces your damage to a minimum. You will just make around 375 damage with your Scream and Wave on in a teamfight.
250 heal is not as annoying as Pipe is but it's bad for you, too. Let you make 675 damage with Scream/Wave. Pipe+Mekansm let you make incredible 125 damage .
You have nothing to interrupt this.
As i said before, disables counter you. Eul's is not that bad. You can refresh your Blink cooldown while be cycloned. But a chainstun after that is also your dead.
All your advantage in ganking is useless when the whole world see you.
Another perfekt counter item. You can't nuke and Blink, and you get extra damage from nukes.
I started hating this thing. If you do your SoP+Ulti combo on 1 guy with Blademail, you are nearly dead. If you hit 2 guys with Blademail, you are dead. (And when you have an AoE based team, and you hit 5 guys with Blademail, your team is dead).
When some heroes like Naix buy this item you have serious problems. Your Blink has a lower cooldown but this item will give your opponent a few seconds where you can't flee. And don't think you can face a Naix in a face to face fight.

Item Synergies

+ + ( )
= Superb Slow
+ +
= High damage to a single target
+
= Let you summons hit long time = High damage, good for ganking

How to use...

-Storing runes and heal life/mana. The common using. While ganking you will pass the rune spots and have nearly never ending life and mana. Also the runes like haste, dd and invi will nearly grant you free kills.
-Fountain healing. The Bottle refreshes automaticly when you are in the fountain. Using it will grant you more heal and should be done when ever you are there.
-Botteling in fight. If you chase an enemy over a long time, your mana will not be enough. So use it while chasing. If you are the one who have to run, use it, too. Even if you will be hitted, there is some heal that can save your life or some mana for Blink.

-As i said before, it let you gank more often because ganked heroes will use their skills to flee and sometimes because they have panic. More charges = you don't have to go back to fountain = more ganking.
-Surviving. In the most cases in early game it's that: 1 Hit to kill a hero before he flees into the tower. I don't think that you can be killed without skills, so you will have some charges at this destinating moment. Use it and let them fail.
-Gank detector. The range is fairly high. So if you suddenly get charges and don't see anyone, be careful. (If you suddenly get 15 charges run for your life )
-Teamfight. I mentioned it before: In teamfights you will get 15 charges easily. Use them.

Ganking. Very simple. Use it on a target to slow and disable. Keep in mind that the range is amazing. Even if a Antimage would blink away you would get him.
Teamfights. Here you have some prioritys:
1. Dangerous non channeling heroes. Guys like Tc or Lich can kill a whole team. Try to pick them out before they do it. Not that easy, I know.
2. Channeling heroes: Enigma or Sandkings ultimates are extremely dangerous. Try to stop them if you can. Stay out of range if you don't want to be affected. You can join the fight after that by using Blink.
3. Physical damage carries: A good way to kill guys like Naix or Mortred. When they don't leech life and make damage like insanes, your team can kill them fairly easy.
4. Intelligence carries: Disable guys like Krobelus, Necrolyte, Leshrak or Tinker and kill them with your team before they become dangerous. (They are not meta anymore, so I swapped place 3 and 4)

-Farming. Scream + Shivas = Creepwave
-Teamfight. A additional nuke can't be to bad, especially if you win the teamfight and the enemies die because they can't run away.

-Ganking. Blink, use Shadowstrike, use Necronomicon, take you and the ugly little demons in a slot, order to attack use Scream, press tab till you have the guy who has Manaburn, use it, order them to attack again. When the ganked hero is still alive, Use Blink and Scream of Pain till he is.
-Teamfight. Manaburn guys that have fairly low mana, but need it. Like Enigma or Sandking. Maybe you can destroy enough mana to avoid their ultimates. Also the blue guy will annoy AoE heroes with low hp, because they kill him automaticly with their skills.

Strategy

Early Game

Pick Akasha (^^), buy your items and choose your lane. You are very variable in this. When you go mid, you are leveling fast and go ganking to make kills. When you go to other lanes you can kill with your lanepartner. Just in organizated games like clanwars, inhouses and -cm games (yes, even in public) you should look against which lane you play. Better don't buy the start items #2 if you play against a tinker in the mid or a double stunner lane. Now guess against which lane you will play (sorry, just experience can tell you that, no guide) and chose one of this strategies:

Defensive: The <440 death combo

I personally have a little strategy to make a kill when your opponent is not a noob that let himself kill. Play a bit passively. Lasthit of course. And remember the holy number : 442!
On level 7 you Scream of Pain in combination with Sonic Wave will do this damage. When you just damage sometimes a bit and run directly a bit back after that, he will just smile and keep beeing on the lane, because he think you would be to scared.(Year mindgaming^^). But when he (or she of course) haves ~ 400 hp, Blink->Scream->Wave. And he dies smiling (xaxaxa what a bad joke ). Against good players it will work just 1 time, but it will work (When I do it^^). And lasthit creeps all the time, of course. But just do it against heroes like Potm that can flee to fast and are able to become really dangerous. Of course it would work against a Mortred or a Kunkka, but it grands unnecessary too much farm. Simply be agressive and do the combo if they really are foolish enough to stay on lane with low hp.

Offensive

Against heroes that can't really kill you and need farm (nearly all carrys) play agressive. Just hit them when they come to near. Of course you have to last hit. But destroy the carry's farm is better than some lasthits.

Defensive

Against a double stunner lane play VERY deffensive. Stay out off their range. And just come near to make some lasthits. And just lasthit when you don't go into stun range. If your opponents keep beeing between you and the creeps, go ganking or ask your allies for a gank. Otherwise it can destroy your game because ganking without regeneration form Perserverence or Oblivion Staffs is hard. You have to go back to the fountain too often.

Later early game

The ganker

The aim of the ganker-Akasha is to abuse Blink and brust damage to kill as much heroes as you can. Preferable dangerous carries. If you have a carry in your team, leave the kills to him if possible.
After you are level 7 you are a imbalanced killing machine for a short time when you was on a solo lane. Go ganking. That works great because of the brust damage. Read at "Ganking" for more information.

The farmer

The aim of a farmer-Akasha is to rush Guinsoo's/Orchid before go ganking. It wastes her early-game gank potential, but you go ganking in mid-game and you are useful in lategame because of good farm.
Just lasthit and sometimes hit creepwaves to 2/3 and use SoP.
Kill the lane opponent if you can, and if there are ganks near to you you should help of course.
If all goes right you will get Guinsoo's or Orchid around minute 25.

Runes

When you have a Bottle and you are in the mid, the rune race can begin. Maybe you will play against heroes that use bottles, too. In fact you will always win this "race" if you try it, because of your almighty Blink.
But why you should run around the map and lose farm?
1. Staying on lane and farming. By leaving the lane for runes? Yes. If you have low hp, you can't lasthit that easy because you always have to care about your life. Without mana, you can't use Scream of Pain. And SoP nearly grants you free lasthits. All in all you will not lose as much farm as you think. Always store the runes.
2. Kills. Runes can help you getting them. You are near to the top/bot and the mid lane. You can go to the Sentinel/Scourge wood for a good ganking position or return to the mid to kill your opponent. Look at the "Ganking" part for good ganking positions. You don't have to use runes for that.
Here a little guide what to do with special runes:
Illusion: Not the best ganking rune. But you can send your illusions to the nearest lanes to make the players scared^^. No, seriously, scout with them or let the enemies think that you return to your lane. You can also use them for 1337-like actions where you block the enemy with them, but if you are able to do that you know what to do with runes anyway. For us mortals it's not much more than a bottle-filler.
Haste: Gives us the option to gank the farest lane (When you are bottom, it's the top lane, I think you know what i mean).
Run to the enemy, use SoP and start hitting him to death. Use ultimate to finish him if you have to.
Invisible: Go next to a hero, order your allies on the lane to get ready and kill them (if they will leave the protection of their tower). You have the advantage of surprise.
Regeneration: Store it and wait for the right situation to use it. For example if you have low hp after a fight and don't want to go back or you are chased.
Double damage: A rune that you can abuse to it's maximum because of Blink and Shadowstrike. You can get many hits, especially if you cancel your attack animation.

Mid Game

The ganker/The farmer

In the midgame, when the ganking phase has begun, you should gank with your mates. The only difference between the ganker and the farmer is, that the farmer will have a Guinsoos/Orchid now. When you see that there is a hudge creep wave which could destroy a tower / looks delicious, buy a tp or blink to it and kill them with SoP or your Ultimate (when there are REALLY many creeps). You can also return quickly to your mates by using tp and /or blink. Sometimes there are little clashes (teamfights). Look at the category "Clashes" for more information.

Lategame

You will do the same thing like in the mid game, but you will rather ganking and more ... clashing (is that the right word?^^).
When you can't win clashes, the enemy team will maybe have a very clash orientated team. So try to push the lanes. Maybe they can't defend them because they are to weak when they are splitted.

Ganking

Very simple. Always blink BEHIND the ganked heroes (not to a position that is your dead, like a Sand King ultimate or the enemie's tower, of course). That will grant you free hits. Maybe it will cut off the fastest way back to the tower. Blink in, use Shadow Strike, Scream of Pain, Blink, if you are skilled enough block the target, if not just attack, Scream of Pain, Blink (he should be already dead now), Scream of Pain and finish with Sonic Wave if necessary.
Let your mates begin the gank when there are more then 1 or 2 heroes because they will try to let you die with them. And better don't try to kill stunning/disabling heroes in the tower when they don't die after 1 Scream of Pain.
The not so simple thing is to surprise your enemys. Blink gives great options for that:
1. You are FAST. You don't have to care about trees and something like this. Not so good players will not think that they will be ganked only a few seconds after a "miss".
2. You can let the enemy not see that you are coming. Just use cliffs and trees. You don't have to walk around them
Here are some placed where you can surprise your enemies with your blink.
A general tip, that is not just useful for Akasha. She always wants to use her skills very dramaticly. They have a long animation, but you can make it 10 times faster: Animation canceling. You can cancel the animation of every skill. Just order them to move, when the skill is casted. For example Scream of Pain's animation can be reduced to 0.1 seconds or something like this. This is especially useful if you chase an enemie and don't want to lose him. It will look like Akasha is using the skill without stop running. If you kill someone with a skill, you can let her do her animation, because it looks cool .
Now the ganking positions. Akashas Blink gives you a few options that other heroes don't have.
The blue points are for the places where you can simply gank. The red points are for the early/midgame when the first towers are not destroyed. When the towers are destroyed, this positions change to normal ganking positions.

Normal Ganking Places:

1. Top lane

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Who?: Sentinel/Scourge
When?: Gank when the Sentinel or Scourge pushed too far.
Fail chance: Low. No towers are very near. The ganked hero can buy a tp to flee.

2. Mid lane

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Who?: Scourge
When?: Nearly always
Fail chance: Middle. A tower is very near. So maybe wait that the Scourge are pushing a bit. Normaly there is just 1 hero.

3. Mid lane

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Who?: Sentinel
When?: When the Sentinel pushed a bit.
Fail chance: Low-High. Gets higher when the Sentinel hero is near to the tower.

4. Mid lane

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Who?: Sentinel
When?: When the Sentinel pushed a bit.
Fail chance: Middle-High. Maybe you will be seen by jungeling heroes. Ganking into the tower is suicide against stunners/disablers.

5. Bot lane

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Who?: Sentinel/Scourge
When?: When someone pushed too far.
Fail chance: Low. But the ancient creep will hit you.

6. Bot lane

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Who?: Sentinel/Scourge
When?: When someone pushed too far.
Fail chance: Low with some stunner/disabler The ganked hero can buy a tp to flee.

1. Top lane

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Who?: Scourge
When?: When a hero is fleeing or hiding behind the tower with low hp.
Fail chance: If you hunt him fairly low, but better don't try to kill him in tower, especially if he has a mate and one or both of them can disable. Thats suicide.

2. Mid lane

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Who?: Scourge
When?: When a hero is fleeing.
Fail chance: Low-Mid. If you hunt into the 2nd tower and he still has 1/3 hp an ally could use tp to save him. Also it's near to base so maybe someone who saw you hunting could be fast enought to save his mate.

3. Mid lane

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Who?: Sentinel
When?: When a hero is fleeing.
Fail chance: Mid. You are near to tower and to the woods. When someone run into the trees it's nearly impossible to hit him with SoP.

4. Mid lane

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Who?: Sentinel
When?: When a hero is fleeing.
Fail chance: Mid. You are near to tower and to the woods. When someone run into the trees it's nearly impossible to hit him with SoP. And sometimes someone sees you.

5. Bot lane

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*I made a mistake. The place is a bit more near the 1st Scourge tower.
Who?: Scourge
When?: When a hero is fleeing.
Fail chance: Mid. If someone wants to make ancient spot or goes to secred shop he maybe see you. Also it's near to base.

6. Bot lane

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Who?: Sentinel
When?: When a hero is fleeing. There is a wood for juking so you shouldn't gank into tower.
Fail chance: Mid-High. You will not die i think, but there is a wood for juking. When your enemy is able to run into it, you will fail because SoP just hits heroes that you see.

7. Top lane

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Who?: Sentinel
When?: When a hero is fleeing.
Fail chance: Low-Mid. Maybe someone wants to go to secred shop. But there is the possibility that your victim goes to it. Sometimes players do that when they are low hp to buy something before going back.

8. Mid lane

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Who?: Scourge
When: When a hero is fleeing.
Fail chance: Low-Mid. Maybe the ganked hero is smart enough to go into the woods next to the 1st tower. Yes you can be next to Roshan without getting attacked. But don't go to the altar behind him. Then he will attack.

9. Mid lane

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Who?: Scourge
When: When a hero is fleeing.
Fail chance: Mid-High. Hard to get killed there but maybe someone goes to the secred shop. Also you could fail blink and stuck in the trees. And you can't blink to the middle of the lane. So he could flee into the woodnext to the 2nd tower.

Clashes
Fight in clashes is not that easy. You are very fragile and have a high priority to be killed. When you are just blinkin in, and use SoP, you are dead. If you use Sonic Wave first, the other team will run back, and heal. To be really effective, your team need a initiator.
Like this guys :
When the initiator used his ultimate (the good initiating skills are always the ultimates)
The other team can't flee anymore without loosing 1 , 2 or 3 heroes. And then you can hunt the other ones. So you can use your ultimate. Try to hit all enemy heroes. Now the enemy team should be near to dead (if not, you will) and you can blink in and scream savely, because they are not thinking about killing you anymore (hopefully^^ that is just psychology). Hunt them to death.
If the enemy team have 2/3 hp now and is just more angry, you have a serious problem. You and your team should go back. When the fight is balanced, it's time to use your items. With the semi-carry build, just hit and damage (and use you skills. Never stop using them) And try to stop channelings with your Orchid or shut down a dangerous nuker like leshrak or thinker for a few seconds.
With the supportive build, Try to shut down their carry with superb slow and hex.

Now the compact version:
1. Wait for the initiator to initiate
2. Use Ultimate
3. Hex/silence/manaburn with Necronomicon dangerous guys (I wrote about this before in the Item part
4. Look at the enemy team:
Low hp? Blink + Scream and hunt with ss if they try running
1/2 hp? Blink + Scream whenever you can
Nearly full hp and angry? Try to go back without losing someone. Don't run around panicly and don't leave your team alone.

Allies / Enemies

Allies

Other Gankers

Because you can make kills with them

Initiators

As is said before you need them to get your full potential in a clash.

Other AoE

Just 1 AoE is fairly useless. More of them are deadly.

Other heroes that can suddenly appear

Surprise, Surprise!

Healers

They make you lesser fragile.

Special Allys

Earthshaker

Ganker, Initiator and Aoe. A perfect partner.

Crystal Maiden

The mana regeneration is amazing for ganking in early game. You don't even need a Void Stone or some Sobi Mask.

Undying

Initiate, Aoe and let you make even more damage with his ulti. Also he can heal you what makes you lesser fragile.

Enemies

Disablers

You can't use Blink and die. Outch.

Damage reducers / healers

They're making you useless.

0.5 second killers

You can't do anything you are just dead.

Silencers

Obviously

Special Enemies

Bloodseeker

The 2nd longest silence. You can't just stand there because of low hp and you can't run because of low hp.

Lucifer

The longest silence. Lvl? Death! + Doom = A dead Akasha

Storm Spirit

Disable? Check. Damage? Ugly. That would be ok but in lategame he's rolling and rolling and rolling and we can't flee. One time I saw some funny 25 Bloodstone charges Storm that fucked my whole team simply by rolling from fountain into it. And guess who was the one that died instantly. Well, my teammate followed me into the death when he rolled the second time and the game was over... I want to say that: He's more dangerous for you than any other farmed carry.

Tinker

Extreme Damage. In early/mid game a rocket, laser, rearm, rocked
combo is your dead.

Quote:

+
Khadgar's Pipe of Insight

Reduces you damage hardly.
=
The worsest thing that can happen
A Tinker on drugs. This hero and 3653 gold can make you useless. Pipe, rearm, pipe , rearm... You can only try to kill him with an overkill of AoE and/or normal attacks.

-> Nerved

Nightcrawler

The new hero in 6.65 is really dangerous. Burst damage? Yes. A skill that makes him laugh about your Blink? Yes. Invisibility that makes him laugh even more because you can't hit him with Scream of Pain? Unfortunately. Removing Shadow Strike? Yes. Insane movementspeed to chase you? You know...
Try to counter him with Necronomicon.

Guide To Sniper

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:19:00 +0000

Kardel Sharpeye, the Dwarven Sniper

Kardel Sharpeye is a testament to his name and race. Using only his finely honed skills of marksmanship and his trusty rifle, he systematically destroys his opponents from afar. Taking great care to aim for the most vulnerable of areas, he is capable of severely injuring an opponent, and with a little extra time, has been known to simply dispose of an enemy in a single shot. His rifle is equipped with a secondary barrel, capable of launching a short burst of shrapnel at close range, causing massive damage.

Table of Contents

I. The Alt-Tab Mini Guide
II. Hero Statistics
III. Hero Introduction
IV. Skills
V. Skill Builds
VI. Item Build

I. Early Game
II. Mid Game
III. Optional Core
IV. Luxury Items
V. Rejected Items
VI. Reasoning

VII. Gameplay and Strategies

I. Shrapnel Mini-Guide
II. Assassinate Mini-Guide
III. General Gameplay
IV. Team Battles

VIII. Friends and Foes
IX. Conclusion
X. FAQ
XI. Replays
XII. Credits and Changelog

Or you can try 'Ctrl+F' and search for the thing that you are looking for.

Alt-Tab Mini Guide

Skill Build

Item Build

Starting Items

Mid

Side

Core

Bracers or Wraith Bands

Whenever you have the feeling that nukers kill you too quickly and you can’t farm well enough, you should buy one or two Bracers. They give you hp and are easy to farm. But remember that Lothar’s Edge is much more useful.

Adding 1 or 2 Wraith Bands is never a bad idea. They give you a bit of everything you need: A bit more hp, a bit more damage which is good on lower levels where Sniper's damage is poor and a bit mana for using Shrapnel more often. But if you have problems with nukers you should buy Bracers and if you farm very well you should go for Lothar's Edge and luxury items.

Its really your choice whether you should go for Wraiths or Bracers.

Extension

Luxuries

Gameplay

1. Farm up your core.
2. Push towers.
3. Stick with your team.
4. Take part in large pushes and team battles rather than farming one lane alone.

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Hero Statistics

STR__

_AGI_

__INT

16+1.7

_21+2.9_

15+2.6

___

Affiliation: Sentinel

Attack Animation: 0.17 / 0.7

Damage: 36 - 42

Casting Animation: 0.3 / 0.51

Armor: 2

Base Attack Time: 1.7

Movespeed: 290

Missile Speed: 3000

Attack Range: 550

Sight Range: 1800 / 800

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Hero Introduction

Sniper has always been considered as an extremely fragile hero that dies in a matter of seconds. However he is also at the same time one of the most powerful carries and pushers in DotA. His extremely long range usually keeps him safe out of battle. He can use his skills from afar and deal tremendous damage with them. He is the only hero in the game that can out-range towers. Because of his simplicity he is often referred to as a "newbie" hero, however he is commonly used in competitive DotA, and sometimes, it can be hard to use Kardel to his maximum potential.

When to pick

Your team needs a ranged carry
Your team is using a pusher strategy

When to not pick

Enemy team has lots of burst damage/stunners

Pros and Cons

[+] Highest range in the game
[+] Fast pusher
[+] Excellent farmer
[+] Excellent attack animation
[+] High damage nuke that can finish off fleeing enemies
[+] Very good agility gain
[+] Best INT gain amongst AGI heroes

[-] Needs quite a bit of survivability
[-] Big target for enemy gankers early game
[-] Low mana pool early on
[-] Below average movespeed

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Skills

Shrapnel

_______.

Fires a ball full of shrapnel into the air. which promptly explodes, showering the target area in explosive pellets. Enemy units that walk in this area get damaged and slowed. Deals 30% damage to buildings. Lasts for 10 seconds.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	15% Slow / 10 DPS
2	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	20% Slow / 20 DPS
3	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	25% Slow / 30 DPS
4	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	30% Slow / 40 DPS

Skill Notes:

• Damage type: magical

Skill Usage: This skill works as a DoT in an AoE. What's great about it is that it is one of the only skills in the game that affects towers too. This is also your primary farming skill. It can also be used for lane control, ganking and escaping. The slow is decent and usually enough to perform one of the above stated strategies.

Headshot

_______.

A shot to the head deals bonus damage and stuns for a short duration.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.01 sec	25% chance to deal 30 damage and ministun
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.1 sec	30% chance to deal 30 damage and ministun
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.2 sec	35% chance to deal 40 damage and ministun
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.3 sec	40% chance to deal 50 damage and ministun

Skill Notes:

• Damage type: hero physical
• Works on allied creeps.
• Stun is blocked by magic immunity.

Skill Usage: This skill improves your quite low damage. The stun is also nice and it syn-energizes well with Shrapnel. This skill also helps you with last hitting a lot.

Take Aim

_______.

Kardel uses his dwarf engineering skills to make modifications to his rifle, enhancing the range of his rifle.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +65
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +130
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +195
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +260

Skill Notes:

• Level 3 and 4 of this skill allow Kardel to out-range towers.

Skill Usage: Take Aim is what makes Kardel a formidable tower pusher. It allows him to keep out of danger (most of the time) and deal tremendous amounts of damage through his other skills to enemies. Also note that if this skill is maxed it is possible to out-range the enemy fountain, allowing you to destroy it!

Assassinate

_______.

Take time to draw a bead, and then deal a large amount of damage to the target at a huge range.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	175	20 sec	1500	N/A	N/A	Deals 355 Damage
2	275	15 sec	2000	N/A	N/A	Deals 505 Damage
3	375	10 sec	2500	N/A	N/A	Deals 655 Damage

Skill Notes:

• Damage type: magical
• Crosshair on target is visible to allies only.
• Invisibility doesn't affect the effect of this skill.
• Interrupts channeling spells.
• Interrupt works on magic immune units.
• Takes 1.7/1.65/1.5 seconds to cast.

Skill Usage: This is your only major nuke and it has quite a few purposes. It is primarily used for killing fleeing heroes, but it also has other purposes. It can cancel channeled spells, meaning TP's and spells like Freezing Field will be canceled when the target hero is hit with the launched projectile. Because of it's very short cooldown it can be used prior to battles, or just in the midst of battle, to deal a lot of damage to one hero, weakening him a lot, and allowing him to be finished off by allies or by Kardel himself.

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Skill Builds

1. Take Aim/Shrapnel
2. Shrapnel/Take Aim
3. Shrapnel
4. Headshot/Take Aim
5. Shrapnel
6. Assassinate
7. Shrapnel
8. Take Aim
9. Take Aim
10. Take Aim/Headshot
11. Assassinate
12. Headshot
13. Headshot
14. Headshot
15. Stats
16. Assassinate
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats

Reasoning: Shrapnel helps with our lane control, farming, and pushing. So we try to max it as early as possible. Take Aim helps with our harassing and pushing ability, so take it early on as well. Headshot should be left for the mid game however it is possible to take one level of it early on the help with our last-hitting, as our damage is pretty bad early game. Take Assassinate whenever you can, and finish with Stats.

Skill nothing before the creeps start fighting and wait for a situation where you could need Shrapnel and skill it (early first blood or ally has to be saved). When the creeps start attacking and you realize that you might not need it too early, skill Take Aim, which make last hitting easier. On the second level you should take the skill that you didn't take on the first level.

Look at who you will be laning with and against to decide which skill you will take on level 4:

Solo vs Dualstunner lane (like Lina + Sven) : Take Aim
Solo vs high burst damage solo lane (like Tinker): Take Aim
Solo vs non high burst damage lane (like Traxex): Headshot
Solo vs deffensive + carry lane (like Spectre + Warlock) : Headshot
Solo vs aggressive + carry lane (like Lion + Naix): Take Aim
Dual vs anything: Headshot

In general: Headshot when you can play agressive, Take Aim when you have to keep distance and farm because you can't kill anyone and your opponent(s) will try and can kill you easily.

Skill Build Alternatives:

There are only a couple of major alternatives to the standard skill build. The first one is taking both Take Aim and Headshot, skipping Shrapnel early on, to farm and possibly even kill heroes faster. Personally this is not recommended as Shrapnel is a great and important skill, and you get just as much farming power with it as you would with Headshot.

The other one is grabbing a couple of levels of Stats early on. Still, max Shrapnel, and levels 2 and 4 grab some stats instead of Take Aim/Headshot. Stats give you some HP and MP which actually helps a bit early game. This again is not recommended over the standard skill build, since when you get your first survivability and mana regeneration items, the extra Stats don't become as useful as Take Aim/Headshot.

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Item Builds

Early Game

Side Lane

Proceed to your position. There you may finish your personal survivability booster codenamed "Magic Wand"

Mid Lane

Water and food allow you to stay in the battlefield for prolonged periods.

Mid Game

Core Equipment

Power Treads and Magic Wand will give you survivability that is necessary for a slow moving low hp Sniper. If you want to buy Orchid and you want to be able to spam Shrapnel for pushing and farming, buy an Oblivion Staff after that. The next important item to buy is Lothar’s Edge, because it will save your ass many times and gives you damage and attack speed that are good for being a carry in mid/lategame.

Bracers or Wraith Bands

Optional Core Equipment

Urn is a very good item for Sniper. It gives him the hp and mana regen that he needs. However there sometimes might be a better Urn carrier on your team, and you should let them get it instead of you. Otherwise go ahead and make this instead of a bracer.

A flask of whiskey to keep your morale up. A good item if you want to push in early/mid game. While switching the lanes you can refresh your mana to push the next tower. If you don’t want bottle, Magic Wand is enough for a burst heal.

.338 Lapua Magnum armor-piercing bullets at your service. Probably the best out there. A cookie-cutter item for Sniper. Your high range is useless without high damage.

Neurotoxin-coated rounds. 8 paralysing rounds for free. A very interesting item. The stats are good for your carry role, the orb is amazing against low hp heroes, but just in early/mid game. The orb loses it’s effectiveness in early game. Purge is good for ganking because you have 2 slows or 1 extreme slow that increase your overall DPS. Also Diffusal Blade is a must-have item against Warlock’s Infernal. Benefits from: Attack speed

Electroshocking rounds for superior crowd-control. Like Diffusal Blade this item is very effective in early/mid game. With this item you can push faster. But because you can upgrade it to Mjollnir it isn’t useless in late game. And it is just an orb effect, so you can also buy Skadi. All in all an item that is useable in any situation. Benefits from: Attack speed

Adrenaline pack. Your range is high, but that will not save you when you are facing disables because their range is long, too or the disablers use fog to hide so that you don’t notice them till it’s too late. All in all this item will turn you rambo for a few seconds, but it won’t help you against physical dps carries.

Ultra-light boots with a built-in radio. The radio allows you to call a transport chopper for extra mobility. You should change your boots to this one in mid/late game. You can push everywhere and it changes your Assassinate to something like Zeus’s ultimate. But if the game is not focused on ganking and pushing, Power Treads are more useful.

Buy it instead of Lothar's Edge. In games with higher skilled players that buy Dust/Gem/Necronomicon, Lothar's isn't as useful as lower skilled games. Here Dagger is a cheaper alternative. You can dodge, blink to places that are hard to reach and kill your opponents and Assassinate's Area of Influence is huge (2700/3200/3700). The problem is that it doesn't give you dps.

While this item is bad on many heroes, it is a choice for Sniper if you want to gank a lot. The only problem is that it is useless if you buy Manta and/or Skadi that are better items. Benefits from: Attack speed

Luxury Equipment

An attached flashbang launcher. Disorients your enemies.
A item that fits Sniper perfectly. The mana regeneration let you spam Shrapnel to push towers, the damage and attack speed is needed to be the carry and the silence will rape all guys who try to dodge your ultimate. Benefits from: Any damage you deal

I think it’s obvious that the item is perfect to deal damage. The evasion allows you to fight against ranged physical dps carries easily. But don’t be foolish and fight in melee range against melee carries like Naix.

Lightweight Kevlar Armor. Doesn't constrain movement. This item will help you destroying towers quickly. I don’t have to talk about the dps, I think. But if there is a melee hero who could use it also, it’s better if he buys it. Then the aura will affect anyone and the armor is not that wasted. Benefits from: Physical damage

Thermal scope, allows you to spot the most uncovered parts of your enemy. Obvious. Damage. Benefits from: Physical damage, attack speed

Schmidt & Bender 6x42 PM II scope for delivering 100% precise shots. Unusable with any rounds other than the ordinary due to different trajectory. More stun. Bash doesn’t stack additional, but the chance is still higher so that it will work pretty much like a Skadi with less slow and more damage. When you are facing heroes with evasion it’s a must-have. Benefits from: Attack speed

Dummies of yourself to deceive your enemies. Very well synergy with Sniper. The movement speed and the stats are perfect and the illusions also get high range. When you are not facing a high AoE team this item is very useful. Benefits from: Stats

Improved electroshocking rounds. Look at the Maestrom. The only difference is that you should use it’s skill on a often attacked hero, that isn’t you in the most cases. Benefits from: Attack speed

Freezing rounds. Quite expensive due to a complicated manufacturing technology. I really think Sniper is the best carrier for this item. No one can flee, the stats are nice and it’s just a buff, not an orb. So you should get it if you got Maestrom/Mjollnir and vice-versa. The only problem is the price.

Rejected Equipment

Why would a sniper need something that looks like a green excrement? Seriously, Assassinate is your finishing move, not your nuke. The cooldown is low anyway and your manapool small. Don't buy it.

Shrapnel will give the minions time to hit. And strength and intelligence is needed. So it is a good item? Not really. Shrapnel slows for a short time and you can hit invisible heroes with your ultimate anyway. It's better to get physical dps items and attack speed because they will make you (combined with Take Aim and Headshot) a hard carry.

This item is completely useless. It just takes a inventory slot. Firstly you aren't a ricer. Ricing would waste your pushing and ganking potential. If you want to farm, buy Orchid. The mana regeneration will let you spam Shrapnel, which results in many lasthits. And you push. And you can gank because of the Silence. And it gives you physical dps.

Lifesteal in general is not really bad, but not a good choice because you shouldn't play rambo anyway. Your health points are too low for this. Buy one of the orbs that are mentioned before.

This will help you spam Shrapnel and push but it doesn't give you physical dps. Go for Orchid instead.

Item Build Reasoning

Early game its important to grab some stat and regen items. This is what the branches and tangos/clarities/salves are for. Grab exactly 3 tangos, as we will use these to build our magic wand. Next try to buy your bracer parts or boots of speed. Then proceed to complete you basic laning phase items.

This is the order that we want to complete our starting items: Wand and Treads. Also you should decide whether to go for Bracers or Wraiths at this point. Right after this you should start on farming Lothars. However instead of going straight for Lothars, you can try to instead farm up an optional item. Anyways, either way you will farm up your Lothars eventually and thats when you should try to farm up your next item. Since you will start getting quite a lot of kills at this point you luxury shouldn't take too long to complete.

Then keep on adding luxuries to your build until the game ends. The Lothars, should hopefully minimize your losses in the process. Try to buy items that will synergize with other items, instead of buying random items. For example here are some very late game builds that synergize well:

Sniper Commando (Carry, Illusions give you high dps)

Assassin (Dps carry that kills anyone with a few hits)

Guerilla (Ganker)

Mortar Team (Pusher, Mjolnir for killing creeps quickly)

Gatling (Carry, high as to trigger Ministuns often)

Of course those item builds are quite expensive, but rewarding if you complete one.

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Gameplay and Strategies

Shrapnel Mini-Guide

AoE

This picture shows you that Shrapnel’s AoE is decent. The only special thing that you have to know about Shrapnel is the positioning of it and abusing it's AoE.

Farming

Instead of simply using the skill on the center of a creep wave, you can also harass you opponent with it. Look at this picture:

You will not just hit all the creeps, you will also hit heroes in an area behind them. Usually they don’t want to be damaged, so they will go out of the AoE and then they can’t last hit/deny the melee creeps easily.

Destroying Towers

Shrapnel also damages towers. I don’t have to explain much here I think. You push while farming with it and your creeps will fight near to the tower. Use it so that you will hit creeps, heroes, and the tower at the same time. Notice that the tower is fat and can’t move, so you don’t need to have the whole tower in your aiming circle.

Fleeing

It's obviously how to use Shrapnel to flee. Aim between you and the enemy hero. What is important here is to cancel the animation. Look here:

If I wouldn't have canceled the animation I would be dead.

And there Weaver pawned me. Using Shrapnel against heroes that can blink or move very fast isn't super effective, but sometimes it is worth a try.

Ganking

The most important thing here is not clicking directly on the enemy hero. That's as effective as aiming Elune's Arrow directly on a moving hero.

First look which way your gank target is going. Make sure that he is cornered by Shrapnel and your allies, so that he has to walk into it. I guess you know that already if you play Pudge/Mirana/Lina/Kunkka, etc. sometimes.

In this pic you see a siuation where Leoric had to run into my Shrapnel because he was chased by my allies.

Assassinate Mini-Guide

Basic Use

This is quite obvious. High casting time that can be interrupted easily, huge range, very high damage and it ignores invisibility; the perfect skill for finishing off near-to-death heroes. Use it on low HP heroes to kill them. It is so simple but why is it, that some people don't understand how to use it correctly?

Common Faults

Some people always complain that you are stealing a kill when you use Assassinate on a low HP hero. Someone has to get the lasthit and you are a carry (not the best one, thats true). So ignore these guys that flame at you. You just secured a kill. But there are situations where you can waste your ultimate.

Lets pretend you (Sniper), Vengeful Spirit and Lion gank 2 heroes. Vengeful and Lion use their skills and would surely kill someone and the other hero runs away with 200 hp. While reading this and thinking about it is obvious what to do: Use Assassinate on the fleeing hero. But I see so many people who use Assassinate at the beginning of a fight, trying to weaken the ganked hero, who would of died anyways. Always, when ganking, try to save Assassinate to finish off the ganked heroes.

Using Assassinate in Fights

I see too many people using Assassinate when someone starts attacking them.

If you are lucky and your target doesn't interrupt Assassinate or kills you, this will happen; You use it, your target will notice the low hp and will run away.

The best way is to use Shrapnel and attack the hero to force him to run away and finish him off with Assassinate.

Special Cases

But there are a lot of heroes who will make it not that easy for you to kill them.

1. Invisibility

You fight against them, they are low hp and go invisible. But hey, you can Assassinate invisible heroes. The problem is that you can't target them. So you have to use Assassinate before they turn invisible.

Heroes that have an invisibility based skill:

Treant Protector
Sandking
Phantom Lancer
Stealth Assassin
Bounty Hunter
Templar Assassin
Bone Fletcher
Nerubian Weaver
Broodmother
Nerubian Assassin

Items:

Lothar's Edge

2. Blinking Heroes

Some heroes have Blink skills. The good thing is that they use these skills to flee most of the time, not to dodge. But if they just run away they will probably wait for your Assassinate to dodge it. So never use it too hastily against these guys, and never wait till you can't see them anymore.

Heroes that can blink are:

Anti-Mage
Morphling
Mirana
Faceless Void
Meepo
Furion
Akasha

Items:

Dagger

3. Invulnerability

Some guys can turn invulnerable. But usually just for a short time, so it's the best to wait until they can't see you anymore so that they can't see that you are casting it. The good thing is that invulnerable heroes don't have any invisibility based skills.

Heroes that have skills that can go invulnerable:

Panda Brewmaster
Lord of Avernus
Juggernaut
Naga Siren
Puck
Storm Spirit
Atropos
Obsidian Destroyer

4. Magic Immunity

These guys are ugly. Nothing more to say.

Guys that are ugly:

Juggernaut
Omniknight
Naix

Items:

Black King Bar

There is a solution to all these heroes:

This disables all their ugly abilities, even Riki's ultimate and it allow Assassinate to deal more damage. The only things that can interrupt your ultimate now are certain items and passive stuns.

General Gameplay

The TP Scroll

This is an important thing to know when playing Sniper. Usually enemies will be trying to gank you to stop you from farming, so it is a good idea to always have an escape mechanism with you. You will need one before you get Lothars, and even after that Lothars can be unreliable if enemies get Dust or Necronmicon.

So always carry 1 extra TP scroll with you. If your teammates have warned of a mia, and after some time you are sure that the enemy is going to gank you, then just TP to a different lane where you can farm/push rather peacefully.

Mana Conservation

Since Sniper's mana pool is rather low early game, it is important for us to know when we can use our spells. If you can afford to to use your spells for early pushes and harrasing then do so. However try to keep your mana up, so that you always have one Shrapnel ready. This last Shrapnel can be used for last ditch efforts against ganks.

Once you get your Oblivion Staff, you don't really need to worry about conserving your mana anymore. The regen will provide you with enough mana to spam Shrapnel, and even have some left over for an Assassinate.

Early Game

After you finish the laning phase, and even during the laning phase, you should be trying to farm and push to the best of your ability. That one extra tower down early game, is huge for your team. After you push one tower in a lane, go to a different lane and push one tower there. Pushing any furhter than the second tower alone is too dangerous.

Other than pushing just try to farm one lane. When enemies come to gank you or try to deny XP then just TP to a different lane, and start farming there. Snipers attack animation is very good, so last hitting should be fairly easy.

Mid Game

At this point you should have your basic core build finished. That means that you can and should try sticking with your team and doing pushes together with your team. You should also take part in team battles. Income should be coming from hero kills at this point.

Your team should try to push down the tier 2 tower in each lane. Hopefully you can also get some tower kills, and that will result in a big boost in your money.

If your team is turtling, and does not want to push, then just try to stop enemy pushes as best as you can. Your Shrapnel is an excellent tool that can be used for stopping large pushes, so use it.

Late Game

At this point your DPS should be pretty high. You should have at least one luxury at this point. With your team behind your back, you are quite a formidable carry. Also if no one has soloed Roshan yet, then it is our priority to do so. You most likely will not be able to kill him alone, so make sure to bring a couple of teammates to help.

Your team should definitely be trying to push into the enemy base at this point. You will want to end the game very soon, or other harder carries will out DPS and overcome you.

Team Battles

Sniper's role in team battles is rather simple. It is to deal as much damage as possible without dying. Because of his long attack and skill range, most of the time, he is out of harms way in team battles. There are a couple of things that you should do for team battles:

1) When the initiators initiate, use Shrapnel.
2) Concentrate and attack either their disabler or carry.
3) Use Assassinate to finish off fleeing hereos.

Do not go into the middle of the battle without the proper support. Just try to stay back and use your skills from afar. As soon as you see someone as a target for Assassinate, then use it. It just tells your team to leave that hero to die and move on to the next one. Also if you have any items with abilities, such as Orchid or Manta, then right at the beginning of the battle use them. If you have orchid it is important the you silence their most dangerous spell caster so he doesn't rip apart/ disable your whole team.

If your team is losing the battle(or already lost it) and you can`t kill anyone, then just run away, as there is no point staying and getting killed.

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Friends and Foes

Friends

Disablers

The less your target moves, the more bullets it catches.

Damage Output Booster

What could be better than delivering even more precise shots?

Groupers

Your Shrapnel hits an area. The more concentrated the enemies are, the better the overall impact is.

Mana Replenishers

More mana equals to more Shrapnels, which equals to more farming and pushing.

Damage Amplifiers

A weakened opponent is a dead opponent.

Foes

Mana Burners

They render you useless.

Disablers

The less you move, the more bullets you catch.

Hard hitters

You are fragile, they hit hard. Questions?

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Conclusion

Overall, Sniper is an excellent hero that can deal huge damage from afar. He is very prone to dying however, so it is crucial that you are always on the lookout for incoming ganks. Once you get farmed up, you are quite a force to contend with, especially with your team behind your back. We, the guide writers, hope that this guide has taught you a lot about how to play Kardel, and we hope that you use this information and apply it to your next games when playing this hero.

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FAQ

1. What should Sniper focus more on, farming or pushing?

It's pretty much your choice and you must decide which one is the correct choice. If you fear of getting ganked, then just farm but don't go too far out of the range of your tower without a TP scroll. If the enemy is distracted for some reason then go ahead and push the tower that you want to push as fast as you can. Destroying towers gives you a lot of money (around 2 creeps waves), so sometimes it is even faster than just farming creeps. Remember, because of the lack of an escape mechanism, ALWAYS carry a TP scroll around with you, until you get lothars.

2. Why skip Headshot early, if it provides a lot of DPS?

The reason is because it actually doesn't provide that much DPS. One level is by far enough to boost our DPS. The proc chance is based on our IAS%, and that only becomes important mid-game, and that is when we will be trying to skill Headshot. Take Aim is much superior early game, as it provides us with safer farming and pushing early on.

3. Why wasn't ______ mentioned in the item build?

It is not possible to list every item for Sniper in the item build. Only items that actually work on Sniper are listed there. Other items just aren't good for Sniper and shouldn't be gotten for him.

4. Why is Sniper considered a "newbie" hero?

This is because of his easy to use skills. He has two passives, and Shrapnel and Assassinate are very easy to use, and take little practice to understand them. Also because of his long range, he is often out of harms way, and this appeals to new players a lot.

5. Help! My team always yells at me for kill stealing!

You are never, ever stealing a kill with Assassinate. You are just guaranteeing that the fleeing hero will die. Your team should never be blaming you for stealing kills, besides you need the gold, because you are a carry.

Guide To Sniper

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:15:00 +0000

Kardel Sharpeye, the Dwarven Sniper
Written by Piejonk, iKrivetko and FunnyWarfare

Kardel Sharpeye is a testament to his name and race. Using only his finely honed skills of marksmanship and his trusty rifle, he systematically destroys his opponents from afar. Taking great care to aim for the most vulnerable of areas, he is capable of severely injuring an opponent, and with a little extra time, has been known to simply dispose of an enemy in a single shot. His rifle is equipped with a secondary barrel, capable of launching a short burst of shrapnel at close range, causing massive damage.

Table of Contents

I. The Alt-Tab Mini Guide
II. Hero Statistics
III. Hero Introduction
IV. Skills
V. Skill Builds
VI. Item Build

I. Early Game
II. Mid Game
III. Optional Core
IV. Luxury Items
V. Rejected Items
VI. Reasoning

VII. Gameplay and Strategies

I. Shrapnel Mini-Guide
II. Assassinate Mini-Guide
III. General Gameplay
IV. Team Battles

VIII. Friends and Foes
IX. Conclusion
X. FAQ
XI. Replays
XII. Credits and Changelog

Or you can try 'Ctrl+F' and search for the thing that you are looking for.

Alt-Tab Mini Guide

Skill Build

Item Build

Starting Items

Mid

Side

Core

Bracers or Wraith Bands

Extension

Luxuries

Gameplay

1. Farm up your core.
2. Push towers.
3. Stick with your team.
4. Take part in large pushes and team battles rather than farming one lane alone.

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Hero Statistics

STR__

_AGI_

__INT

16+1.7

_21+2.9_

15+2.6

___

Affiliation: Sentinel

Attack Animation: 0.17 / 0.7

Damage: 36 - 42

Casting Animation: 0.3 / 0.51

Armor: 2

Base Attack Time: 1.7

Movespeed: 290

Missile Speed: 3000

Attack Range: 550

Sight Range: 1800 / 800

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Hero Introduction

Your team needs a ranged carry
Your team is using a pusher strategy

When to not pick

Enemy team has lots of burst damage/stunners

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Skills

Shrapnel

_______.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	15% Slow / 10 DPS
2	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	20% Slow / 20 DPS
3	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	25% Slow / 30 DPS
4	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	30% Slow / 40 DPS

_______.

A shot to the head deals bonus damage and stuns for a short duration.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.01 sec	25% chance to deal 30 damage and ministun
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.1 sec	30% chance to deal 30 damage and ministun
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.2 sec	35% chance to deal 40 damage and ministun
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.3 sec	40% chance to deal 50 damage and ministun

_______.

Kardel uses his dwarf engineering skills to make modifications to his rifle, enhancing the range of his rifle.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +65
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +130
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +195
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +260

_______.

Take time to draw a bead, and then deal a large amount of damage to the target at a huge range.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	175	20 sec	1500	N/A	N/A	Deals 355 Damage
2	275	15 sec	2000	N/A	N/A	Deals 505 Damage
3	375	10 sec	2500	N/A	N/A	Deals 655 Damage

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Skill Builds

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Item Builds

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Gameplay and Strategies

Shrapnel Mini-Guide

AoE

This picture shows you that Shrapnel’s AoE is decent. The only special thing that you have to know about Shrapnel is the positioning of it and abusing it's AoE.

Farming

Instead of simply using the skill on the center of a creep wave, you can also harass you opponent with it. Look at this picture:

Destroying Towers

Fleeing

It's obviously how to use Shrapnel to flee. Aim between you and the enemy hero. What is important here is to cancel the animation. Look here:

If I wouldn't have canceled the animation I would be dead.

And there Weaver pawned me. Using Shrapnel against heroes that can blink or move very fast isn't super effective, but sometimes it is worth a try.

Ganking

In this pic you see a siuation where Leoric had to run into my Shrapnel because he was chased by my allies.

Assassinate Mini-Guide

Basic Use

Common Faults

Using Assassinate in Fights

Special Cases

But there are a lot of heroes who will make it not that easy for you to kill them.

1. Invisibility

2. Blinking Heroes

3. Invulnerability

4. Magic Immunity

These guys are ugly. Nothing more to say.

Guys that are ugly:

Juggernaut
Omniknight
Naix

Items:

Black King Bar

General Gameplay

The TP Scroll

Mana Conservation

Early Game

Mid Game

Late Game

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Friends and Foes

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Conclusion

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FAQ

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:15:00 +0000

Table of Contents

I. The Alt-Tab Mini Guide
II. Hero Statistics
III. Hero Introduction
IV. Skills
V. Skill Builds
VI. Item Build

I. Early Game
II. Mid Game
III. Optional Core
IV. Luxury Items
V. Rejected Items
VI. Reasoning

VII. Gameplay and Strategies

I. Shrapnel Mini-Guide
II. Assassinate Mini-Guide
III. General Gameplay
IV. Team Battles

VIII. Friends and Foes
IX. Conclusion
X. FAQ
XI. Replays
XII. Credits and Changelog

Or you can try 'Ctrl+F' and search for the thing that you are looking for.

Alt-Tab Mini Guide

Skill Build

Item Build

Starting Items

Mid

Side

Core

Bracers or Wraith Bands

Extension

Luxuries

Gameplay

1. Farm up your core.
2. Push towers.
3. Stick with your team.
4. Take part in large pushes and team battles rather than farming one lane alone.

Back to top

Hero Statistics

STR__

_AGI_

__INT

16+1.7

_21+2.9_

15+2.6

___

Affiliation: Sentinel

Attack Animation: 0.17 / 0.7

Damage: 36 - 42

Casting Animation: 0.3 / 0.51

Armor: 2

Base Attack Time: 1.7

Movespeed: 290

Missile Speed: 3000

Attack Range: 550

Sight Range: 1800 / 800

Back to top

Hero Introduction

Your team needs a ranged carry
Your team is using a pusher strategy

When to not pick

Enemy team has lots of burst damage/stunners

Back to top

Skills

Shrapnel

_______.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	15% Slow / 10 DPS
2	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	20% Slow / 20 DPS
3	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	25% Slow / 30 DPS
4	120	15 sec	1200	325	8 sec	30% Slow / 40 DPS

_______.

A shot to the head deals bonus damage and stuns for a short duration.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.01 sec	25% chance to deal 30 damage and ministun
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.1 sec	30% chance to deal 30 damage and ministun
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.2 sec	35% chance to deal 40 damage and ministun
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.3 sec	40% chance to deal 50 damage and ministun

_______.

Kardel uses his dwarf engineering skills to make modifications to his rifle, enhancing the range of his rifle.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +65
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +130
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +195
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Attack Range +260

_______.

Take time to draw a bead, and then deal a large amount of damage to the target at a huge range.

__	____.	________.	_______.	___.	_______.	__________________________.
	Mana	Cooldown	C. Range	AoE	Duration	Effects
1	175	20 sec	1500	N/A	N/A	Deals 355 Damage
2	275	15 sec	2000	N/A	N/A	Deals 505 Damage
3	375	10 sec	2500	N/A	N/A	Deals 655 Damage

Back to top

Skill Builds

Back to top

Item Builds

Back to top

Gameplay and Strategies

Shrapnel Mini-Guide

AoE

This picture shows you that Shrapnel’s AoE is decent. The only special thing that you have to know about Shrapnel is the positioning of it and abusing it's AoE.

Farming

Instead of simply using the skill on the center of a creep wave, you can also harass you opponent with it. Look at this picture:

Destroying Towers

Fleeing

It's obviously how to use Shrapnel to flee. Aim between you and the enemy hero. What is important here is to cancel the animation. Look here:

If I wouldn't have canceled the animation I would be dead.

And there Weaver pawned me. Using Shrapnel against heroes that can blink or move very fast isn't super effective, but sometimes it is worth a try.

Ganking

In this pic you see a siuation where Leoric had to run into my Shrapnel because he was chased by my allies.

Assassinate Mini-Guide

Basic Use

Common Faults

Using Assassinate in Fights

Special Cases

But there are a lot of heroes who will make it not that easy for you to kill them.

1. Invisibility

2. Blinking Heroes

3. Invulnerability

4. Magic Immunity

These guys are ugly. Nothing more to say.

Guys that are ugly:

Juggernaut
Omniknight
Naix

Items:

Black King Bar

General Gameplay

The TP Scroll

Mana Conservation

Early Game

Mid Game

Late Game

Back to top

Friends and Foes

Back to top

Conclusion

Back to top

FAQ

Guide To Murloc Nightcrawler

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:36:00 +0000

Slark

This guide is dedicated to anyone wishing to play Slark. Due to the hero difficulty he is not recommended for total beginners. This is a community guide, which means that I will need your help to make this guide better ^^ Feel free to add sections and graphical additions - I will credit them if necessary.

Pros and Cons of Slark

+ The best heal for free
+ Great counter against heroes relying on stats/raw damage
+ Ridiculous ganker, especially 1vs1
+ Able to counter debuffs
+ Built-in counter-ward skill
+ Does not need regeneration
- 2nd lowest HP in game
- Item dependent late-game
- Easily counter-picked and easily counterable

What kind of hero am I playing?

Slark the Nightcrawler is a ganker, meaning that he gets cheap items and kills heroes so that carries meaning those the most item-dependent for fullfilling their role can farm in peace. He does that mostly mid-game. He can shift to be a carry-late game although that's not his natural role.
He has all that a ganker needs - burst damage provided by Dark Pact, an escape mechanism and pin down skill - Pounce and a skill to hunt - Shadow Dance.
What separates Slark from other gankers is the way he does it. He is a hit-and-run type of hero - he quickly runs in, eliminates an enemy or two and runs away, only to strike back again, hitting stronger. Imagine him on the basis of a cavalry knight. The only difference is that he's a parasite, meaning he gets stronger with each skirmish unless you kill him outright.
His secondary role is to nullify the potential of tanks and carries in team battles. Essence shift, reduced stats, easier to kill and they deal less damage. Simple.
To master Slark you need to master three things - Chasing, Escaping and Surviving.

When to (not) pick Slark?

Slark is recommended against physical-based lineups, as well as lineups lacking in nuke spells. 2 or 3 carries relying on DPS to kill or/and tanks should make your day. The reason is because you can kill all heroes alike, but you're also nullifying the threat from enemy carries. It is best to take Slark as one of the last heroes of your team, as Slark can be easily counter-picked.

Do NOT pick Slark against nuke and disable-heavy lineups. This is because your paper HP does not allow you such encounters.

How do I use my skills to fulfill my role?

Looks might be deceving. This may look like a weak AoE tool but in fact its uses are much useful than they may seem initially.

a) As a farming/pushing tool - Once it hits level 4 feel free to use it to push or to farm in both jungle and the lane. Be aware of enemies that might abuse the loss of HP and gank you though. Safest way to use it is to use it as far away from your enemies as possible when farming.
b) As a ganking tool - Your early-mid damage isn't too shining so this helps you net a kill or two.
c) As a defense tool - WHAT? Yes. After two seconds, you lose most of the most annoying debuffs in the game. The key is to predict when some of them will be cast on you 2 seconds later. Practice makes perfect. Here's a list of the debuffs:

As you may notice, by your Dark Pact you may remove such annoying spells as Rhasta's Shackles, Venomancer's Poison Nova, Slithice's Ensnare, Rooftrellen's Overgrowth, Gondar's Track or even Dust of Appearance, Amplify damage(as of 6.66b) and Bane's Fiend's Grip. Most specifically, STUNS! ABUSE IT! I cannot stress this enough.
Tip 1 - Use Dark pact right before Shadow Dance ends. The natural instinct of your enemy is to stun/disable Slark the moment he shows up again. Dark Pact triggers and the disables/stuns are off, allowing you to escape or continue your pursuit.
Tip 2 - Use mindgames in pubs. An early Dark Pact can make you look the one dying while a moment later the tides might turn around.

A combination of Pudge's hook and Mirana's leap.
You use it for ganking and for escaping. This skill may be a bit difficult to beginners. Imagine being an animal and you have to jump directly on your foe. The leash area of effect is only 110 which means you must be accurate enough to be right at your foe(melee range) for the leash to attach. Be wary that the leash also applies to creeps. The most guaranteed way to leap is to leap on a target hero just after you striked them once or when they run away in a straight pattern.
Running away is simple. Jump away from your enemies, preferably not into another enemy unless intended to keep him/her from not chasing you.
Make use of the terrain. You can jump over cliffs and jump into places people won't go, allowing you to teleport back to base or shorten your way from one place to another. Or should I say, from foe to foe.

Tip 1 - In a bit narrow areas or when with a teammate, feel free to use the Pounce time to get ahead of your enemy and block his route of escape.
Tip 2 - Abuse this against low-hp heroes just wanting to leap/rofl out/go invisible/etc. In the case of invisible heroes, have a habit of using Dark Pact right before they go invisible. As Dark Pact works against invisible heroes, this might net you a kill in close situations.
Tip 3 - Try to use Dark pact in combination with either Shadow Dance or Pounce. Try to predict when you'll be most likely stunned/disabled in 2 seconds.
Tip 4 - Self-damage of Dark Pact is non-lethal. You CANNOT suicide.
Mini-tip - At the start of the game, feel free to block creeps. If they come quicker due to their speed, jump over them.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but there is the importance of priority. You should focus on Strength heroes first, dps/carry heroes second and nukers/spellcasters last. Convince your teammates to prioritize the reverse.

Tip 1 - Slark's damage early-game is really deceiving. While you might deal 50sh damage, remember, that you take 1 strength from non-strength heroes and 2 strength from strength-based heroes. This gives you additional19/38 damage against them as early as level 2.
Tip 2 - The length of Essence shift is 60 seconds for a reason. Use all of it. If you lack an enemy hero to gank nearby, unload the massive dps on some jungle creeps or towers.

The skill has 2 sides, the active part and the passive part.
You use the active part(invisibility) similarily to Pounce, meaning you can use it for both escaping and initiating. The smoke might seem like an overkill, but the truth is that the smoke as well as you moving like a swarm of parasites adds chaos to the battle.
Abuse Dark Pact and Pounce during your ultimate, it's only 5.5 seconds!

The passive part is much more interesting. Until level 6 you are more or less like a piece of garbage unable to do much in the lane. Once you hit level 6 though, you are able to sustain your life with more or less ease.
To regain your life BUT to be in experience range of creeps(1000) you got two methods:
A) Is to wait until night and make use of the fact that creeps have a vision of 800(1400 during day) so be between the 800-1000 range of creeps
B) Or, much easier, is to hide between trees and juke spots.

To gain the passive bonus you have to OUT of sight of your enemies. This means you don't have to be neccesarily outside their circular day/night range, but to be in the enemies's fog of war. This is very intuitive and might take practice to master but if you do, you're really likely to escape your pursuers, unless you run into an unexpected enemy.

This skill is what makes him a hit-and-runner ganker and not a carry.

NOTE: The passive bonus also wears off when seen by towers.
NOTE 2: The passive bonus does not wear off near neutral creeps, only unless attacked by them. Abuse it during jungling.

Tip 1: You should get to know how to juke if you want to remain out of vision. Juking means manouvering between trees and paths to be able to remain out of sight, confuse your enemy and escape. In Slark's case, this is vital, as a few seconds out of sight can get you back in the heat of battle and maybe even score a kill or two.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 2475x2447.

Here is a map of juking paths made by Lycan. Feel free to use it as reference.

Tip 2: Some targetted spells(mostly those that throw a projectile) can be avoided(or some of their effects), such as Hellfire Blast, Storm Bolt etc. if you activate your invisibility while it's thrown at you. In a team battle it may be difficult but in 1vs1 situations the projectile is usually slow enough to dodge in time. Have your fingers on the skill hotkeys at all time.
Tip 3: When ganking and not focused, a good idea is to wait out until you lose some health. You gain approximately 12/18/24% max HP in 5.5 seconds just by this ultimate.
Tip 4: If any enemy has sight of you, your passive gets removed. Use this to tell your teammates if there is an invisible hero or a ward of any kind nearby.
Tip 5: There is a 0.7 second casting delay between removal and activation of the skill. Hide in a juking spot and you'll have a temporary charge upon your enemy, often giving you an element of surprise.
Tip 6: You may use all sorts of items without revealing yourself. Most notably, this involves the teleportation scroll.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 667x385.

Here is a picture by Lycan depicting the range of your skills.
The Dark Pact AoE is 350. That's how far your damage goes after 2 seconds. Remember though that it's dealt in intervals.
The fat line shows your Pounce range, while the small circle shows just how close you should be to your enemy upon landing for the 3.5 sec leash to attach.
Click the real-size picture to see the real range.

Level 1 - Pounce/Essence Shift
Level 2 - Essence Shift/Pounce
Level 3 - Dark Pact
Level 4 - Dark Pact
Level 5 - Dark Pact
Level 6 - Shadow Dance
Level 7 - Dark Pact
Level 8 - Pounce
Level 9 - Pounce
Level 10 - Pounce
Level 11 - Shadow Dance
Level 12 - Essence Shift
Level 13 - Essence Shift
Level 14 - Essence Shift
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Shadow Dance

Pounce is taken at level 1 for escape purposes. Don't let the small distance fool you - you can e.g. dodge being trapped by an Earthshaker's fissure.
Dark Pact is maxed first due to the fact that your priority is getting your offensive potential up as quickly as possible.
One level of essence shift is required for early-mid game ganks. Any more is not needed until later due to the 15 second duration being enough. If you find your lane to lack disables and you got the proper environment to be aggressive, feel free to get Shift first.
Pounce is maxed second because of the range bonus is required to adjust to enemies speeding up.
Essence Shift is naturally maxed last and Shadow Dance is taken when necessary due to its usefulness.
For a more defensive build, max Pounce first with only one level of Dark pact at level 4. For an offensive build, max Essence shift first with only one level of pounce and dark pact early. This build is highly efficient against melee/short range lanes as well, because the essence shift provides you a means of harassment and lane control, while dark pact is not so efficient.

Slark has two issues. He needs to pump up his offensive potential to start ganking as quickly as possible but he needs to boost his HP as quickly as possible not to die, as well. This item build also reflects and keeps to his hit-and-run playing style. This item build is meant to be as all-round and as for many uses as possible. This does not make this the item the best for YOUR specific game, but to make it as good as possible for an average, non-competitive game.

Early Game Items:

Competetive games:

Non-competitive games:

You take the branches for a Good Game and a later Magic Stick, while the Shield protects you against early harassment and improves your lasthitting. The heals are necessary in non-public. Feel free to exchange the branch/heal with 1 or 2 clarities if necessary. Competitive games don't require heals as you would rather go with a babysitter with extra heals or a healing spell.

The moment you use your heals(trust me, you WILL), get your hands on the Magic Wand and 1-2 Wraiths. Don't take any more Wraiths as you will have issues with your inventory space. The Magic Wand solves your mana problems while the Wraiths provide a cheap bonus.

Boots Choice

The next Item you're going to get are the Power Treads, all pieces of which can be bought in the side shop.
We choose these as Slark desperately needs attack speed and stats to do what he does best. Set them according to your needs. In a majority of cases, strength is the best option.

Core item and orb choice discussion

Sange & Yasha or Diffusal Blade

Pin-down items. These 2 items fit to the largest amount of situations. Both orbs are equally good for him.
S&Y is known to be a pretty mediocre item but Essence Shift makes it actually worth it on him and make the maim almost reliable. Also, both Yasha and Sange increase his offensive and defensive potential at the same time.
The Diffusal Blade on the other hand quickly burns the target's mana, often rendering your foe unable to use their escape skill.(e.g. Blink)
S&Y follows the rule of "hit and run", while Diffusal Blade follows the rule of "kill before they kill you". The slow from Purge is comparable to that you gain via Maim, with the difference that Purge is instantaneous, removes buffs and is ranged BUT it is limited to a cooldown and charges, while S&Y lacks the above pro's but it's more reliable as a general slow. Bear in mind the lack of survivability on Diffusal Blade. Depends what you need, really.

When to choose which, then? Diffusal Blade is suggested for competitive games where mana is key and the Purge could be helpful to your allies and as a counter versus summons. Additionally, you are more quickly fit for team battles do to your offensive potential. S&Y on the other hand works great as a whole rather than in parts, so it is suggested for pubs where you got more time to farm.

How about other orbs?

Helm of the Dominator/Satanic and Eye of Skadi

Carry items. HotD and Satanic is especially effective versus hard carries. Feel free to use Dominate of HotD for more ganking options. The minus of HotD/Satanic lies in the mediocrity of HotD in midlate game until you get Satanic, making you resolve to other items and your allies for your all-round potential in that time.
Skadi on the other hand is a luxurious alternative to S&Y so if you can farm it up, there is no orb superior to it. The minus here is the cost.

Mjollnir and Desolator

Glass Cannon Items. You gain no direct survivability whatsoever through them and only Mjollnir is situational due to Static shield's use - use if applicable(e.g. Axe in your team). Thus Desolator is the weakest option due to bad build-up and no survival boost.

Verdict: Take a pin-down orb if you can rely on your team for your survival. Carry items are better when you can't rely on your team or when you got sufficient environment to farm uninterrupted for a period. Glass Cannon items are not recommended, but remain situational, should you encounter such a rare situation in which those items would be useful.

Note: I am NOT REJECTING those orbs. I just picked the most all-round options suitable for the most occasions. Feel free to adjust your orb item to your needs if necessary.

Follow-ups

Armlet of Mordiggian

If you feel you need extra protection against physical or/and burst damage, get this. This item is not rushed as your low HP doesn't support the degen by then yet. It's just too risky.

Black King's Bar

A must in any game where nukes/disables are dominant. It allows you to continue attacking - something you do. The Hp/damage bonus is also really nice.

Hood/Pipe/Vanguard

These three items are highly recommended to take in situations in which you don't have the proper healing/protective support from your allies. Just one of them will suffice, depending on the enemy lineup - you want to take the Hood against magic-damage based lineups, while Vanguard against physical-damage based lineups. A pipe is a late-game luxury and a fancy addition versus AoE lineups.

Manta Style

For burst-damage and pushing line-ups. An Armlet is recommended for a boosted effect, as the strength passes to images. The stolen agility passes to images but they don't steal stats by themselves. As its cooldown is 50 seconds, use it in battle first time for burst damage and after 50 seconds use it for the "charged" images.

Cranium Basher
While it is unwise to get this item without a proper HP and attack speed boost, the item finds its use should you require another disable midlate-game.

In non-competitive games, feel free to skip the above for luxuries if needed.

Luxuries

Assault Cuirass, Butterfly and Orchid Malevolence

After Buriza, Assault Cuirass provides you great EHP, attack speed and a nice desolator-like effect. Being a late-game item, being a siege machine is useful. Butterfly serves as an overkill vs DPS carries option. Orchid Malevolence is your ultimate ganking/burst-damage option. It's up to you.

Rejected Items

Mask of Madness

The only orb I highly discourage, the 30% increased damage against you and the mediocrity of other gains make this item a no-no. You got the second smallest strength out of all heroes and even a few seconds of berserk in a team fight could be perilous for you and using MoM without Berserk is a pure waste of money. In short - you're too paper to use this. Some people might advise Dark Pact's removal of debuffs/stuns/disables is enough to consider MoM. Even if you're lucky to negate a certain portion of a disable, you won't escape massive nukes. Additionally, the self-damage of Dark Pact is amplified.

Heart of Tarrasque

It's not worth the effort(3200 is a bit hard to farm) and the 8 seconds delay makes the additional regen not too useful. Your ultimate is enough for regen while other items can be served for HP which are cheaper and better in building up.

Vladimir's Offering

Best served on a teammate. You don't have the time nor the money nor the item space(!) to invest in something that can be replaced by something more useful. You don't need lifesteal to survive, all you need is to be able to get away enough to get the proper regeneration. Use your skills, not your muscles, broadly speaking.

Radiance

Sparkles won't make your death any prettier. You just won't live enough to use it.

Early game(1-11 level)

You should lane with a babysitter or someone with a good lane presence, especially if you are starting. Solo in a lane only under if you are experienced enough and under your team's consent.
Do your classic lasthitting/denying. Make sure to get as much farm as possible. When the lane is pushed away, get necessary items in the sideshop. If you're facing at least one melee hero, take advantage of harassing them - especially if they're strength heroes.
If an ally is coming to gank, surprise your enemies by using a low dark pact. At a lower level the hp loss is hardly noticable so you may surprise your enemies with some nice damage. Instinctively, they will probably back up(to get less damage) which is your opportunity to Pounce. If they stay, they are dead.
Try to be helpful to your teammate but avoid initiating first unless chasing. Slark is NOT a tower-diving hero, so abuse mindgames and try to net as many kills as possible away from the enemy tower.

Mid-game(11-20)

By mid-game you should gank > farm > push.
Take advantage of ganks. Abuse your movement speed to be in experience range of any enemy hero killed(1000).
The moment you get your S&Y or Diffusal Blade you should focus solely on ganking while pushing becomes your second priority, farming being the third priority.
Your role in team battle is to either fish out one lone enemy and kill him OR nullify the tank/carry dps potential.
The combo is to alternate between Pounce, Dark Pact and Shadow Dance. The order depends on what type of enemy you meet, but it's usually Pounce->Dark Pact->Shadow Dance.
When on low health, do NOT escape to the fountain. Take around 10 seconds out of battle and join back, preferably netting a kill on a surprised enemy.

Late game(20-25)

Your late-game priority changes to pushing. You should initiate in as many team battles as possible, as reducing the tank/carry potential of the other team will become even more so time-requiring.
Your dps starts to wane as carries will(or not, depending on how well you did) will have item-boosting stats that will render your essence shift much less effective than it was earlier. Hopefully, by this time you and your team members have more pushing power to win.
If the tanks/carries of the other team overpowered you, this means you did your job wrong... or your ally fed them

Favourite allies

Babysitters and strong lane control heroes
You'd like them in your lane to protect you from harassment and give you as much farm and preferably a kill or two. What's not to like?

Worst enemies

etc.
Nukers, Burst damage and AoE heroes

A lineup of these or a majority of these means constant death to you. They just won't allow you to approach them. They just kill you faster than you kill them and they often have the ability to surprise you or backstab you. Avoid if possible.

Image heroes

Your AoE is a bit mediocre to deal with them and you can't leech off stats of an image hero. Annoying, isn't it?

Sight, Truesight, Blademail and Mjollnir

The more sight your enemy has of you, the less you can use your ultimate, as well as your passive. In case of wards, notify your teammates of a ward nearby. Blademail just kills you. Mjollnir is a unique counter since your HP might easily take some dps but not magic damage - your increasing attack speed also backfires when put together with the Static Charge on the enemy.

Special mention:

Strygwyr and Slardar

The first one makes your ultimate's passive not trigger more than half of the time while the second one(even though you can dispell his skills) will either land a stun or an amplify damage debuff on you. Wasting 150 health just to take it off is really bothersome.

Guide To Chen

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 02:59:00 +0000

Foreword:
Welcome to my Chen guide. I notcied this forum contains no guide for this awesome hero so I decided to write one myself. Most of the members of this forum complain about the complexity of Chen and the so called 'micro' you require to play him effectively. They seem to forget, Icefrog is not making this map excusively for the 'competitive scene' of DotA and that you don't have to compete with players like Kuroky, Misery or Puppey and it is not needed to play him 'perfectly'.
The problem with Chen is, people don't dare to try him and miss a great hero concept due to their decision.
I don't want to lie, most of the time you need more concentration and faster fingers to play Chen on the level you would do with a 'normal' hero but it's not as bad as people make it sound.
That's why I first thought of the name 'not as hard as people use to say' for this guide but the current title just sounds more epic.
Just see this guide as an inspiration to try something new or to improve your skills.
But enough of that now, let's start with the real guide.

Table of Contents:
Just click on the text to jump to the section.

1. Pros and Cons
2. Hero Details
2.1. Skill Explanation
3. Creeps
3.1. Creep Stats
4. Skill Build
5. Item Build
6. Hero Synergy
7. Strategy Section
7.1. Picking Chen
7.2. Choosing the jungle
7.3. Jungling
7.4. Micromanagement
7.5. Warding
7.6. Ganking
7.7. Pushing
7.8. Team Battles
7.9. Map awareness
8. Replays
9. Epilogue
10. Credits

1. Pros and Cons

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[+] Strong ganking especially early game
[+] High capability of disabling the enemy
[+] Good pushing
[+] Global heal
[+] Damage enhancing ability
[+] Jungle hero
[+] Item independant

[-] Needs concentration
[-] Loses most of his power lategame
[-] Fragile
[-] Not as mobile as other heroes (Creeps can't teleport via Scrolls)
[-] Luck dependant to a certain extent

2. Hero Details:

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Background Story

Strength - 20 + [1.5]
Agility - 15 + [2.1]
Intelligence - 21 + [2.8]

Advanced Statistics:

Affiliation:	Sentinel
Damage:	43 - 53
Armor:	1.1
Movespeed:	300
Starting HP/MP:	530/273
Attack Range:	600

Skill Explanation:
(You can also look it up at the Hero Information but I rewrote it with comments, for completeness.)

Penitence

Test of Faith

Holy Persuasion

Hand of God

3. Creeps:

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Aaahhh, the cool stuff.
I will only give information about the creep camps and the creeps themselfes.
If you want to know more about Neutrals and Spawning read this article from the Mechanics section of Playdota.com.
Lets start with the basics, the creep camps in the jungle. I won't list the ancient camps, because we are interested in persuading, not farming. If you forgot it, we can't control ancients.

Map explanation and list of creeps spawning in each camp:

Stats:
1. Creeps we want to persuade:

There are 3 Camps every Chen loves to see. Namely the Furlbolg camp, the Centaur camp and the strong Troll camp. Those units are the best you can get because they offer disables.
The Furlbolg offers the best damage you can get and a 25% slow within a 300 AoE. Almost sure firstblood if you can get the stomp off nex to a stunner assisting you.
The Centaur is a great creep the entire game. 2 seconds of AoE stun is just devasting and the attackspeed aura helps your allies.
The Troll helps in initiating a gank, because he can ensnare a unit from 550 range which gives your Centaur/ Furlbolg/ ally time to get close and unleash their spells. He also supports pushing by summoning two additional units.
Just to have mentioned it, Furlbolgs are better early game because their Stomp deals more damage than the Centaur stomp and the slow is almost as good as the stun early on.

	HP___	MP___	Damage	Armor	MS___	AS___	Spells
Centaur Khan	1100	200	49-55 (Chaos)	4 (Heavy)	320	1.65	War Stomp, Endurance Aura
Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior	1100	300	49-55 (Chaos)	4 (Heavy)	320	1.35	Thunder Clap
Dark Troll Warlord	1100	550	49-54 (Piercing)	1 (Heavy)	320	1.35	Raise Dead, Ensnare

Spells:

	Unit____	Mana_	CD__	C.Range	AoE_	Duration_	Effects
War Stomp	Centaur	100	20 sec	N/A	250	2 sec	Stuns for 2 sec, 25 damage
Endurance Aura	Centaur	N/A	N/A	N/A	900	N/A	15% attack speed bonus
Thunder Clap	Furlbolg	100	12 sec	N/A	300	3 sec	25% movement and attack speed slow
Raise Dead	Troll	50	25 sec	600	N/A	40 sec	Summons 2 Skeletons, 150 HP, 24-25 damage
Ensnare	Troll	150	20 sec	550	N/A	1.5 sec	Immobilizes the enemy

2. Creeps we should persuade:

There are two big camps left which contain the other two good creeps available. Take one of them, if you can't get one of the other strong creeps. First, there is the big Satyr camp with the Satyr Hellcaler. He has a 100 damage shockwave and a HP reg aura.
The Enraged Wildekin can summon a Tornado which will damage and slow nearby enemies and provides a +3 armor aura. It's btw the 'tankiest' creep you can get due to his high armor and armor aura. The Tornado can be used to clear creep waves or stacked creep camps or to keep enemies from initiating with their Blink Dagger due to its high AoE (600) and controllability.
The Satyr offers nothing really exciting and the Tornado is a bit hard to control, but because of their high damage, HP and their spells they are some of the best creeps you can get.

	HP___	MP___	Damage	Armor	MS___	AS___	Spells
Satyr Hellcaler	1100	300	49-55 (Chaos)	0 (Heavy)	290	1.35	Shockwave, Unholy Aura
Enraged Wildekin	950	400	50-56 (Chaos)	4 (Heavy)	320	1.35	Tornado, Toughness Aura

Spells:

	Unit____	Mana_	CD__	C.Range	AoE_	Duration_	Effects
Shockwave	Satyr	100	8 sec	700	200	N/A	100 damage to units in a line
Unholy Aura	Satyr	N/A	N/A	N/A	1000	N/A	3 HP regen for allied units
Tornado	Wildekin	200	120 sec	500	N/A	40 sec	Summons a Tornado which damages for 45 per sec (150 AoE) - 15 per sec (600 AoE), slows for 15%
Toughness Aura	Wildekin	N/A	N/A	N/A	700	N/A	3 armor for allied units

3. Creeps we could persuade:

There are the good, the bad... and the guys who have no BAM.
Support is a important part of Chen and sometimes you should give up offensive potential in exchange for supporting your allies. And sometimes, the creeps just don't spawn like you want so you have to take one of those.
The Alpha Wolf can be a lategame creep who increases the damage potential of your carry. It is also the fastest creep available with 350 MS.
The Ogre Magi increases the effective health of allies with his Frost Armor which is slightly worse than Lich's (8 bonus armor instead of 9/ 12 at level 3/ 4).
The Satyr Soulstealer can burn the targets mana and can shut down the early game of some heroes like Tiny or Panda.
And please, don't dare to persuade the other creeps left. Those I listed recently are already almost a reason to laugh at you.

	HP___	MP___	Damage	Armor	MS___	AS___	Spells
Alpha Wolf	600	N/A	30-33 (Normal)	3 (Heavy)	350	1.35	Command Aura, Critical Strike
Ogre Magi	600	400	24-27 (Normal)	0 (Heavy)	270	1.35	Frost Armor
Satyr Soulstealer	600	400	24-27 (Normal)	1 (Heavy)	270	1.35	Manaburn

Spells:

	Unit____	Mana_	CD__	C.Range	AoE_	Duration_	Effects
Command Aura	Wolf	N/A	N/A	N/A	500	N/A	30% damage bonus
Critical Strike	Wolf	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20% chance, 2x damage multiplier
Frost Armor	Ogre	40	5 sec	800	N/A	45 sec	8 bonus armor, slows for 30% MS, 20% AS
Manaburn	Satyr	50	18 sec	600	N/A	N/A	100 Mana burned

4. Skill Build:

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Level 1 - Holy Persuasion
Level 2 - Penitence/ Test of Faith (*)
Level 3 - Penitence
Level 4 - Holy Persuasion
Level 5 - Holy Persuasion
Level 6 - Hand of God
Level 7 - Holy Persuasion
Level 8 - Penitence
Level 9 - Penitence
Level 10 - Test of Faith/ Penitence
Level 11 - Hand of God
Level 12 - Test of Faith
Level 13 - Test of Faith
Level 14 - Test of Faith
Level 15 - Attribute Bonus
Level 16 - Hand of God
Level 17+ - Attribute Bonus

Explanation:
Cookie-Cutter build.
We take Holy Persuasion at level 1 to start jungling immediately and we max it first. The number of creeps you can persuade stays at 1 with level 1 and level 2 Holy Persuasion, so leveling it up again at level 3 is pretty useless.
Instead, take it at level 4 and 5.
Max out Penitence after Holy Persuasion. As your early game is build upon ganking it is more helpful than Test of Faith.
The damage of Test of Faith should not be underestimated and even though it's not as good as Chen's other skills it's clearly better than Stats.
Get Hand of God whenever you can. There should be no reason why you skip this ability.
After level 16 it's your decision but i would suggest you take Stats rather than nothing. Haha, funny shit.

(*) One level of Test of Faith can be taken at level 2 or 3 for teleporting purposes. It can save your allies and creeps or deal the final blow to a red HP enemy.
I have to admit, I don't recommend it. In the most cases Penitence is way superior to Test of Faith. In ealry levels you are most of the time jungling or ganking and you won't be able to use ToF on an ally in danger.
Penitence offers a slow, increased damage and makes it possible for your creep to get his stomp of. Keep in mind, your Penitence will stay at level 1 until you reach level 8 if you take Test of Faith early. But you always should adapt to the situation. If the lane you are supporting has one or two stunners (and one of them is ranged, like Lion) he can initiate the gank for you and you can afford to take ToF at level 2 or 3.

Alternative Build:
Level 1 - Holy Persuasion
Level 2 - Test of Faith
Level 3 - Test of Faith
Level 4 - Holy Persuasion
Level 5 - Holy Persuasion
Level 6 - Hand of God
Level 7 - Holy Persuasion
Level 8 - Test of Faith
Level 9 - Test of Faith
Level 10 - Penitence
Level 11 - Hand of God
Level 12 - Penitence
Level 13 - Penitence
Level 14 - Penitence
Level 15 - Attribute Bonus
Level 16 - Hand of God
Level 17+ - Attribute Bonus

Alternative build. You sacrifice your slow for some random nuking power. You can find this build mostly in high level league games, where the Chen player has not to worry about initiating because all the other players pick heroes with stuns/ slows/ etc.
Actually, I don't recommend this build. This is a guide, therefore it is mainly for new players and those should stick with the skill build above. Penitence makes it much easier to get your creeps into melee range.
Test of Faith is also highly mana intensive (170 Mana at all levels), make sure you carry Clearity Potions with you if you follow this build.

5. Item Build:

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Starting Items:

A chicken is absolutely necessary. Maybe a bunch of Wards to prevent being ganked (more information about defensive warding later). Add a combination of Branches, Tangos and the first part of your Ring of Basilius and there we go.

Core Items:

Get Boots asap. Finish your RoB. Get more Wards, Dust and upgrade the Courier if needed. You don't need more to be effective.
Ring of Basilius helps your creeps tanking the jungle creeps, and gives slight manaregen. (Also for your creeps! They normally don't regenerate mana.)
Boots are a no brainer.
6.65 Addition: With the new Urne of Shadows Bracers are now useless for Chen. The new Item offers everything we need: HP, a bit Manareg and it profits from your ganking. Feel free to get one but make sure your teammates don't get it, too, because only one charge is gained per kill.

Extended Core Items:

The money you don't need to buy wards can be used to build a Mekansm. After finishing it, work for Aghanim's. Normally, the game should end at this point of the game.
Mekansm grants you an additional healing ability and helps your allies and creeps surviving. Chen is a natural Meka carrier.
Since 6.60 it's possible to use Aghanim's Scepter on Chen. It dramatically reduces the cooldown of your ultimate (120 seconds --> 30 seconds). With those two items you are able to regenerate tons of your allies' hitpoints.

Extended Extended Core Items:

If you are a really rich guy after finishing Aghanim's and Mekansm upgrade your boots. I recommend getting Boots of Travel because of the mobility it offers, which is needed in this stage of the game.
If you don't have enough money or need more HP, get Power Treads. The AS is some kind of wasted but 10 more Strength is cool.

Luxury Items:

If you are a really, really rich guy build one of those.
Heart for survival, Guinsoo for disable or Shivas for a bit of both. But you shouldn't be farming for it. Always remember, you are not a carry, you should be spending your money on Wards or Dust or something else.

Situational Items:

Hood or Pipe if you are facing a team full of spellcasters. But you should skip Meka if you have to build a Pipe, because otherwise you might not be able to afford it. Vlads can be a good decision if you want to support your carry and if you have enough money after finishing Aghanim's.
Arcane Boots, it's situational I think.
Replenishing your creeps mana is nice and it gives you loads of mana for yourself, but it lacks HP.
If you go for a pushing strat or want a heavy early game dominance with spamming your spells everytime they are off cooldown, it might be nice.
In every other case, the 10 Str from Power Treads are just too good to pass.

Rejected Items:

That's something I read repetitively in this Forums. 'HotD and Necro3 to maximize your blablabla.' or 'A good Chen should be able to control all those Creeps perfectly.' No thanks. It's hard enough to control your hero and your persuaded creeps to help your team, you shouldn't be concerned about overextending yourself. Also, Mekansm and Aghanim's are way better than those two items.
For a further explanation why I reject Necronomicon, read The Necronomicon issue and The Necronomicon issue 2. But beware: Wall of text.
Force staff is good in theory to help your Centaur/ Furlbolg landing its Stomp but it adds no survivability like Meka and Aghs. And if you get it after those items it will be to late to be effective.

6. Hero Synergy:

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Ok... I won't list every DotA hero here, because everyone loves disables and heals in their team and everyone hates them if the enemy got such spells.
In general, Chen works well with every stunner, slower and heroes who need a solo lane to gain fast expirience.

I will list only certain, important heroes for Chen.

Slardar... great shit. He can initiate a gank with his Sprint/ Stun combo and your creep can hit the second stun/ slow. His ultimate increases the bonus damage of Penitence even more (Reminder: Penitence's bonus damage is physical!) and he's a natural Armlet carrier, that means he will kiss your ass for heals. He's one of your best allies.

The Vengeful Spirit is a good ally for almost the same reason like Slardar. Good opening Stun, Armor reduction... But Venge is most of the time used as a ganker rather than a carry like Slardar. She does not have to farm and can leave her lane freely. You can roam the map as a couple and kill everything in your way. Very romantic.

Dirge profits greatly from your heals because he is one of the few natural tanks in DotA. His damage enhancing and slowing aura stacks with Penitence and not to forget: more creeps, more soul rippin', bro!

Your creeps are no heroes. Witch Doctor's Paralyzing Cask will jump between you and your creeps even if you are alone. They get stunned for 5 seconds (!) each jump and you will get stunned repetitively, too. Enough time for the Troll to get off his Maledict and Death Ward (which will target you automatically). That is resulting in death, most of the time. Sad but true.

The only hero that counters every other hero. Doombringer just eats you alive. His ultimate will prevent you from using spells or even items, that means no healing for you, my friend. Your creeps are just a little snack, thanks to Devour. His nuke is powerful early game (500 damage if you are unlucky) and combined with Doom's damage you will go down quickly. Doom on you, Doom.

Personally, I love to play Rexxar. His maphack hawk warns him if you plan a gank and will find you in the jungle, his pig will prevent you from escaping, his axes will cut you in pieces and his ultimate provides a single target stun for you and makes your creeps crawl. I can't think of a better counter. Well, perhaps if he gets Hand of Midas...

7. Strategy Section:

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Picking Chen:
It starts right here. Basically, it is never a bad idea to pick Chen because his strong early game can't even be fucked up by his 'counters'. But there are situations where you should start thinking of whether it is smart to pick Chen or not. Remember, if you play Chen there will be another solo lane. If your team consists of four melee heroes who can't solo a lane properly there is not much space for a jungle hero. But if your team is picking like that they are retarded anyway and you can't do much about it.

The second possible situation would be if the enemy team has a bunch of heroes who can easily get rid of your creeps. Clinkz, Naix, Doom and Enchantress (and partially Enigma, but he can't convert strong creeps) can kill or even control your assistants with just one click. You also should look out for heroes who are likely to get Hand of Midas or Helm of the Dominator.

Choosing the jungle:
Next issue. You can jungle and gank from either the Sentinel or from the Scourge jungle regardless of which afflication you are. Your own jungle offers good ganking possibities in one lane (your long lane) and is very safe of ganks if you ward properly. The enemy jungle offers good ganking on two lanes (short and mid lane) but is harder to defend.
Keep in mind that you are way stronger early on than most of the other jungling heroes who use summons like Enigma, Lycan or Furion. You can take over their jungle and prevent them from farming/ leveling.

The other factor, that has to be considered, is the hero lineup of the respective lanes. Is your long lane an offensive one with hero(es) like Mirana/ ES/ Sandking/ etc or a defensive lane with carry and babysitter?
Which lane will need more support? Can your solo handle the enemies lineup?
In general, it's always better to take the jungle near the more offensive lane so you can get more gold and expirience and the most improtant: gank the shit out of the enemy heroes.

Of course you can change the jungle later, but the early levels are the most important.

Jungling:
Finally, this is an easy, short one. Go into the jungle, Persuade a creep and hit the other ones. If the creep is still alive, go to another camp and start pummeling them. If the creep dies, persuade another one. Repeat.

Although I should mention that Chen is not a jungler like Syllabear, Troll or Terrorblade who goes there to make fast gold. Chen's priority should be ganking. That means, if you have the choice between killing the small camp or ganking a sidelane, always choose the sidelane.

Micromanagement:
I just don't want to talk about this obvious one, but I have to.
One word: Controlgroups. Ctrl + [Number] and there you go. The best way how to do it you have to find on yourself.

Another way of controlling your creeps efficiently is the Subgroup Control Key.
Credits for this go to Eumellein.
Holding down the Ctrl key while issuing an order only gives the order to the highlighted subgroup. This feature is very handy for using concentrated firepower and moving Heroes into and out of battle without breaking your selection. This key must be enabled in the options menu: Options --> Gameplay --> Subgroup Order modifier key.

In easier words: Press the Ctrl button and give a command (for example attacking a unit). Only the highlighted subgroup (for example your hero) will follow your command. In order to use this feature, you have to activate it in the Gameplay menu.

Warding:
By god, you could write a whole guide about this section. Lucky us, there are already two of them (Heldarion's and Eumellein's) about warding. Read them if you want in-depth information about it.
I highly recommend you read the section about blocking the spawning of creeps.

I prepared a map with my recommended warding spots. They cover the spots where the enemies will run through if they want to gank you and the rune spots.
Of course there are more possible warding spots which you can use but you should read that in one of the two guides above.

Concerning counter-warding... If there is a camp in your jungle without creep spawns, buy some Sentry Wards, place them near the camp and destroy the ward the enemy team placed. Easy as that.

Ganking:
In this point, Chen is not that much different from other heroes. Waiting for the right situation, run up to your enemy and use the right abilities at the right time. The difference is, your abilities are spread over many units.
I really can't give you a straight instruction how to gank because it depends on your allies, your creeps and the enemies. I will instead try to give you a bunch of general 'rules' who to kill and enemy sucsessfully.

You should always try to engage your enemy when he does not expect it and to trap him between you and your allies. The best targets for your ganks are of course low HP heroes without escaping skills like Blink or Invisibility.
Start with Penitence and attack. If your creep got a disable, try to get it close to the enemy (unless it's a Troll) and time the stun/ slow/ snare with your allies' disables. Try to chain as much stuns and slows as possible and keep on attacking with all your units.

Don't be afraid of tower diving, a dying creep is not the end of the world. A dead enemy hero is more important than your creeps, you can be as greedy as you want. Chen himself should at best always stay in the background and just throw his spells and attacks at the target.

I don't know what to say more... there are a lot of little tricks which will improve your ganking but at the beginning you should be focusing on the basics. You will get better with more practice and watching replays helps, too.

Finally, I made some screenshots which show a good gank, although it's not that hard to kill a Sniper as Chen.
Very easy example and nothing special, but watch it if you are new to Chen.

Pushing:
You just made a successful gank resulting in a double kill? Don't be afraid of sending your creeps forward to attack the tower. Your creeps can tank the tower for some time if all treants/ ghuls are gone. The Wildekin is a great pusher due to his high armor, armor aura and AoE damage thanks to the Tornado. The Troll Warlord can summon 2 additional units which can tank the towers damage.
Using your Mekansm can help, too.

Team Battles:
That's the point of the game where it is getting hard. Controlling up to 4 units in a fight of 10 heroes is really difficult. The most important points:

Stay alive!

Try to hit as many units as possible with the spells of your creeps.

Use Penitence and other single-target spells like the Troll's Ensnare on the main target/ the most dangerous enemy.

Always stay near your teammates to heal them with Mekansm if necessary.

Use Hand of God as early as possible if you have Aghanim's. If not, use it anytime you want but make sure all allies are still alive.

Hope the best.

Remember, you don't need to play like a member of MYM. Just give your best, support your allies and annoy your enemies. Keep a cool head, try to analyze the situation and make your decisions who to stun, when to heal and who to pummel.
Again, I just can say, you will get the better the more you practice.

Map awareness:
Probably the most important point for every hero, especially for those who have global skills like Chen.
Watch the minimap in every free second you have! If you warded properly it will provide every information you need to gank and to not be ganked. It will tell you when to use Hand of God and when you should TP to a tower to defend it. Relly, watch the minimap.

Guide To Pugna: The Oblivion

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:21:00 +0000

Because Nether Ward will zap yo' ass.

Hey guys, thanks for checking out my Pugna guide

Pugna (AKA Poogn0r, Poogles, Puggs, Puglicious) is a creepy skeleton in a cape. He can be used incredibly well or incredibly badly - making him a challenging but rewarding hero to master. That's also why I wrote this guide; I'm sick of watching people fail with this amazing hero!

Nether Ward remains one of the most underrated spells in DotA - did you know if a Decrepified level 11 Rhasta casts all his skills, he will be instantly killed by Netherward? I love watching an enemy Lina die before Laguna Blade even occurs, or watching a Zeus get slamboozled as he casts his 450 manacost ultimate!

Pugna has a versatile and unique skill set. He can be an amazing counter-pick when the enemy chooses spellcasters, or he can be they key hero in a push strategy.

Hope you enjoy the guide,
Tony

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
!NOTE: If you want to jump to a section of the guide, just click the numbers on the left in the table of contents - they're all anchor links!

1 - A Closer Look at Pugna's Skills
Nether Blast
Decrepify
Nether Ward
Life Drain

2 - Skill and Item Build Options
Skill Build
Solo Pugna
Dual-Lane Pugna
Danger Lane Solo Pugna

3 - Gameplay Guide
Early Game Laning
Early Game Pushing
Mid Game Ganking
Late Game

4 - Advanced Techniques
Blast Cancelling
'Decrepiteliporting'
Nether Ward Usage

5 - Allied and Opposition Hero Consideration
Recommended Allies
Pugna Food
Worst Enemies

6 - Drafting Pugna
Push Strategy
Counter-Picking

7 - Replays

8 - Wrapping Up

1 A Closer Look at Pugna's Skills

The values below are for the maximum level of each spell. To see the additional information please go here.

Nether Blast (B)

Creates a blast of exploding pulses from the Nether Plane, dealing damage to units and buildings.

Mana Cost: 145 Cooldown: 5.5 seconds
Casting Range: 400 AOE: 400
Damage: 325 magical damage (100 exact damage to buildings)

Tips:
- Cast delay of 0.5 seconds. Note that during this delay you can press 's' to stop the spell and re-target it if needed.
- The 100 building damage goes straight through the Glyph of Fortification buff without being reduced.
- During pushes this spell is ideally placed so that the far edge of the AOE just touches a tower, and the rest knocks out the enemy creep wave. This should keep you out of harm's way.
- Compared to other casters, this nuke has very poor range and can often place you in danger. Luckily you have a spell to deal with that - Decrepify!

Decrepify (C)

Pugna casts a powerful banishing magic on a unit. The unit is sent to the ethereal plane for a small period of time, reducing its movement speed by 50% and rendering it unable to attack. Units under the effect of Decrepify take 44% extra damage from Spells.

Mana Cost: 100 Cooldown: 7 seconds Casting Range: 700
Duration: 3.5 seconds

Tips:
- Only magical and pure damage can harm Decrepified units
- Decrepify has just received a handy buff! It now has 700 range at level 4 and can be used with Scream of Pain
- The following spells DO NOT deal any damage to a Decrepified unit: Echo Slam, Heat Seaking Missile and Blade Fury.
- Decrepify does not amplify the heal effect of Mekansm.
- You can save an ally from Omnislash by Decrepifying him.
- You can Decrepify your Nether Ward to keep it alive (new feature of map 6.65)
- This spell is obviously amazing to amplifiy magical damage on a target, but late game it becomes very important to save your team from physical damage. In certain situations it is also better to Decrepify a teammate or yourself - for instance the Decrepify/TP Scroll combo. This spell takes good judgement to use well.

Here's an example:

Here I am being chased by Bane Elemental, Clockwerk and a hungry Slardar. I've already dropped my ward but I'm in dire straights and will probably die.

After a very strong nuke combo by them, I am brought down to a sliver of HP. Since they have no nukes left, I quickly decrepify myself. Our Lord of Avernus also helps me out with shield, and my team is now racing in for the kill...

See how the 3 enemy heroes are now very poorly positioned; bunched around me, they take high damage from Aphotic Shield, Nether Blast and Life Drain.

Now for the coup de grace - they are all torn apart by Antimage's ultimate. The Decrepify caused them all to be horribly out of position and they paid for it with their lives. I die as well unfortunately, but Decrepify turned a 0 kill 1 death fight into a 3 kill 1 death situation.

Nether Ward (W)

Summons a Nether Ward that prevents enemy heroes from regenerating mana and can cast Mana Flare, which deals damage to enemy heroes as they cast spells. Lasts 25 seconds. Each level increases the area of effect of the Ward's Mana Flare, the Mana Flare damage, the negative mana regen and the hp of the ward.

Mana Cost: 80 Cooldown: 35 seconds AOE: 1600
Duration: 25 seconds
Mana Regen Reduction: 6 mana points per second
Damage: 1.5 magical damage per point of mana used HP:300

Tips:
- Mana Flare is triggered when an enemy casts a spell and the damage is based on that spells mana cost.
- The damage of Mana Flare is dealt prior to the spell being cast, so if it deals fatal damage the enemy's spell will have no effect.
- The Mana Flare range is impressive, so the ward can be well hidden to keep it safe.
- Always have Nether Ward down before a battle begins - the highest mana cost spells are often used to initiate a battle (For example Echo Slam or Black Hole).

This my favourite spell by far - here's a closer look at effective Nether Ward use:

Lina vs Pugna

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 599x610.

During a push I place Nether Ward close to the scourge base entrance. It's within attacking range to draw the enemies closer to our Centaur's Blink/Stomp. To my surprise, Lina decides to engage me with spells. At this point she's only used Light Strike Array and Dragon Slave, you can see her HP has already been slammed down by Mana Flare. Note also the strategic observer ward I've placed over the cliff so I can see into their base.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 780x675 and weights 116KB.

Lina tries to finish me off with Laguna, but Nether Ward deals a buttload of damage and fries her before it even fires. Booyah!

(All of my screenshots are taken from the replays attached to this guide.)

Ultimate: Life Drain (D)

Pugna summons a very powerful draining magic that absorbs the life essence of an enemy unit. Lasts 9 seconds.

Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* show improved values).

Mana Cost: 225 Cooldown: 22 (*0) Casting Range: 850
Duration: 9 seconds
Damage: 185 (*250) magical damage per second, health drains to Pugna

Tips:
- Channeling spell
- HP drained depends on the actual damage dealt, so Decrepify increases it and magic resistance decreases it. (Please not that Decrepifying yourself does not improve the amount of life drained - only Decrepifying your opponent does that.)
- Will drain as long as the target is within 850 range. Note that if an enemy hero uses Blink during this spell, but remains within 850 range, Life Drain will still continue.
- Destroys images on the first damage tick

This spell can really turn the tide of battle, but it takes expert timing to use correctly. The effectiveness of Life Drain is also very dependent on the heroes chosen by your enemies and allies. If the other team is loaded with stuns it can make your life pretty tough. Try to get this spell off while your target is disabled (my personal favourite is Naga Siren's net) and when your enemies have wasted their disables.

Gogo Life Drain

Dead spider is dead

2 Skill and Item Build Options

Skill Build:

Depending on your opponents you may choose to change this, but I find this is most effective:

1 - Nether Blast
2 - Nether Ward/Decrepify
3 - Nether Blast
4 - Nether Ward
5 - Nether Blast
6 - Life Drain
7 - Nether Blast
8 - Nether Ward
9 - Nether Ward
10 - Decrepify/Nether Ward
11 - Life Drain
12 - Decrepify
13 - Decrepify
14 - Decrepify
15 - Stat Boost
16 - Life Drain

Nether Blast is always maxed first, I don't think anyone will have any issues with that. However, choosing between Nether Ward and Decrepify is less obvious.

I always prioritize Nether Ward because it shines in early and mid game battles when spell damage is at its peak strength. Decrepify is a very strong counter to physical damage, which of course makes more sense in late game. Also, you only need to throw in 1 level of Decrepify and you can still coordinate with your team to amplify their nukes.

Starting items:

Pugna is a very versatile hero and these item builds are by no means gospel, they are simply a guide. Use your initiative to make item choices in-game, depending on your opponents and the situation.

Option 1 - Solo Pugna

Pugna is a strong ranged solo and this item set is also easily incorporated into one of his later items - Mekansm.

Option 2 - Dual-Lane Pugna

This is a pretty self-explanatory item set, of course the most important item is the chicken. When you are playing dual-lane Pugna you need to be responsible for supporting your team. The only time you wouldn't buy chicken is if you were buying the team's first set of wards instead.

Option 3 - Solo Pugna in the 'Danger Lane'

Soloing Pugna in the long 'Danger Lane' is a more advanced tactic, I will attempt to find (or create) a recent replay of this technique. (Unfortunately all of MYM|Maelk's danger lane Pugna replays are for an older patch.) With Boots and his natural fast movement speed, Pugna can escape the ganks that are commonly inflicted on this lane. However it requires very sharp map awareness and more submissive hero positioning. Only more experienced players should attempt this strategy.

Mid Game Items:

After the initial laning phase there are many items that are intelligent choices for Poogles.

Pugna is a natural supporter - he is almost completely item independent so you should focus on stocking up on support items whenever possible:

These are your key support items. Keep a stranglehold on the map with strong observer warding and kill the enemy obs with sentries. Always have a TP Scroll on you so you can help out in battles. Counter enemy invis heroes with dust and be sure to gank them early as possible when they are more vulnerable.

Warding is an integral part of Pugna's game, so if you are unfamiliar with appropriate warding spots, please go here to see Heldarion's Total Warding Guide.

In addition to support items, you can use your own judgement to choose between the following initial items:

Mekansm and Basilius are usually top priority unless another teammate chooses to buy these. They are almost essential for pushing towers, which is one of Puglicious' main goals.

Pugna's HP and armour is amongst the lowest in DotA, so it is very important to buff him up a bit. This can be achieved in a number of ways - 2 Bracers, a fast Mekansm and/or an early Point Booster are all viable ways to bump up his early survivability. However, don't go too ballistic on Bracers and leave yourself no inventory space for support items.

Late Game Item Choices:

Wow, it's a regular smorgasbord of items... That's basically because Pugna doesnt need items, he can simply choose items that are most suitable to beat his enemies. If they have mass spell damage - Khadgar's Pipe. If they have a huge amount of physical damage - Ghost Scepter. If you need mobility to multi-lane push - Boots of Travel. You get the idea.

However, Pugna should push hard enough that his team wins long before he starts considering this pricey list of top tier items. If you spend ages trying to farm up these big items, the enemy carry heroes will become much more of a threat. You should win early as possible when playing Puggs.

3 Gameplay Guide

Early Game Laning Phase:

If you are dual-laning, you should begin to support your team before the creeps even spawn. Buy a chicken and share it immediately, or use your wards before the first creepspawn. Use them to block the enemy 'pull spot' and/or to protect your solo hero from ganks.

Pugna can be a strong solo or a good lane partner. Typically if you choose to dual-lane, pick a melee stunner as your lane partner - this way you can support him with your range and use his stun to hit all your blasts.

Practice the typical lane control techniques so you gain an advantage over your opponents. Also, make sure you use the 's' hotkey to cancel any Nether Blasts that are off-target. Level as fast as you can and pick up your early boots and support items.

If you have your lane on lockdown, or if you have an extremely aggressive pushing lane like KotL/Pugna, try to take out the enemy's first tower before your opponents can resist you.

Early Game Pushing Phase:

As soon as you have level 7 and boots, you have the potential to take down enemy towers quickly. Look to find weak lanes and coordinate with your teammates to take towers in quick succession.

If the other team defends, use your early game advantage to own them in team clashes. Always drop your Nether Ward in a hidden location that is close enough to deal damage. When pushing top or bottom tower, place an observer ward behind it here to gain vision of approaching heroes. Last hit the tower with Nether Blast if it's at risk of being denied, but if possible leave the money to your carry hero. Remember, taking towers quickly provides far more money than farming creeps, and can give you the item advantage that allows you to break the enemy base.

Mid Game Ganking Phase:

During battles you should be able to feed on enemy spellcasters by zapping them with Nether Ward. It's a win/win situation - if they use spells to fight, they die to Mana Flare. If they choose to spend time stalling until they find the ward and kill it, your team will run over the top of them with your own offensive skills.

Always look to save allied heroes with your Meka and/or Decrepify. Never ever Decrepify a hero that your team is killing with physical damage. Think quickly and choose your targets well.

Poogles is weak as hell so you'll need your wits about you to survive battles.

Here's an example of a mid game battle with a strong Nether Ward presence:

Nether Ward is right above the battle, just out of harm's way. See how Rhasta (top right in this screenshot) has instantly been zapped down to a sliver of HP - all he has cast is Voodoo and Serpent Wards. Slayer dies to Nether Ward; she tried to Laguna Blade CM to stop Freezing Field. My team wins this battle 4 kills to nil and then pushes a tower over in moments.

This is another amazing mid game clash where a well-placed Nether Ward bags me an ultra-kill:

Click to view 4 screenshots...

OD ignores my warnings, puts on his Rambo bandana and runs headlong into 5 enemies. I sigh, drop my Nether Ward and we all run in to help. Tiny combos them to start with...

Nether Blast pwns 2 heads and OD has just survived the first onslaught thanks to using Astral Imprisonment on himself...

Pig runs forward, Quill Sprays OD to death and I kill him with Life Drain...

I bag one final hilarious kill as Morphling teleports back to his Replicate clone - killing himself on Nether Ward in the process. You can see the Mana Flare animation has been fired right across the map to his teleport location. ULTRAKILL. OD's Ramboing wasn't so bad after all!

Late Game:

Sure, you've lost a bit of power but you've still got some tricks up your sleeve. Screw over the enemy damage dealers with Decrepify and continue to take down towers with Nether Blast. Your ward is still a frighteningly strong spell - particularly because enemy ultimates now cost upward of 400 mana.

Please click to see the screenshots of a 5v5 late game clash in a war:

In this -CM match I have drafted Pugna, Earthshaker, Lich, Pudge and Bloodseeker onto the Scourge team. The Sentinel have drafted Alchemist, Enigma, Crystal Maiden, Warlock and Tiny. (Here I'm actually playing Pudge, but the Netherward was so strong I wanted to show this fight)

The Sentinel have predicted that we are taking Roshan, so they engage us starting with Warlock's ultimate. We are very well prepared - Netherward is put down immediately in an unreachable spot to the right of screen, our Bloodseeker purges away the Golem, and I initiate by hooking their Enigma away from the fight...

The Sentinel feel they are committed to continue the fight, and Pugna's Netherward starts to do its dirty work...

The Netherward strikes continue, and our positioning has kept all our heroes quite safe from all their initiating spells.

Earthshaker joins the party, things are looking grim for the Sentinel. In the bottom right corner you can see Crystal Maiden is half-dead from Netherward zaps. Only a few seconds have passed, so I'm still rootin' around with Enigma way up in the top of the frame.

Enigma finally breaks free of Dismember and Rot and desperately tries to cast Black Hole, only to be pimpslapped to death by Netherward...

Chain Frost whips around between Warlock and Alchemist and we win the battle 5 kills to nil, then we kill Roshan anyway.

Take a wild guess as to how much damage Netherward did during that fight.

Chances are you're guessing too low - here's the maths:

Tiny casts blink (90), Avalanche (120) and Toss (120) - 330 mana
Alchemist casts Unstable Concoction (120), Acid Spray (160) and Chemical Rage (150) - 430 mana
Crystal Maiden casts Frostbite (150) and Freezing Field (400) - 550 mana
Enigma only gets to attempt his ult for 300 mana
Warlock was zapped for Upheaval - 130 mana

All up that's a glorious 1740 mana, triggering a grand total of 2610 Netherward zap damage!

That's more than twice as much damage as a level 3 Laguna Blade with Aghanim's upgrade. Ouch.

4 Advanced Techniques

Blast Cancelling
If you know your Nether Blast is about to miss, press 's' to cancel the spell and save your mana.

Decrepiteliporting
If you're taking high physical damage you can often escape by Decrepifying yourself and teleporting back to base.

DecrepiNetherwarding
You can buy precious seconds by Decrepifying your Netherward, keeping it alive and kicking!

Nether Ward Usage
Always, always, ALWAYS use Nether Ward during team clashes. It costs a mere 80 mana and can often deal more damage than a Zeus ultimate during fights.

Find a close location to hide the ward before a fight and do your best to Decrepify heroes who will take high Mana Flare damage. Here is another example:

Zeus vs Pugna

I have placed Nether Ward in a hidden location near the scourge top tower. Zeus decides to attack when he sees his ally Abaddon is near. His HP drops to red in the blink of an eye - I've used Decrepify/Nether Blast and all he has cast so far is Lightning Bolt.

Zeus casts Arc Lightning gets gutted by Nether Ward before he can even think about using his ultimate.

5 Allied and Opposition Hero Consideration

Recommended Allies:

High Damage Nukers -

Decrepify an enemy and *poof* he'll vanish under a cloud of nukes.

Fast Pushers -

Pugna's specialty is pushing, so when you combine his power with another pusher he's very hard to stop.

Long Disablers -

Life Drain anyone?

Pugna Food:

Spellcasters -

If these guys think they can fight with Nether Ward around, they've got another thing coming. All of them have monumental mana consumption and low HP... Pugna smells blood!

Special Mentions -

These guys are in the 'Pugna Food' section for a few reasons. If Sand King uses his ultimate in the fog and gets zapped by Nether Ward, it will disable his blink dagger and make all the Epicenter damage useless. Juggernaut is countered by Pugna because Decrepified units take zero damage from Blade Fury and Omnislash. It's extremely easy to bait an enemy Juggernaut into wasting Omnislash on you.

Worst Enemies:

Assassins -

Get caught in their combo and you'll be dead before you hit the ground. To survive their ganks you'll need good map control and warding.

Anti-Mage Type Heroes -

With terrifying high-damage combos and almost no fear of your spells, these guys will pop a cap in yo' ass.

6 Drafting Pugna

This is a slightly more advanced section. If you're interested in trying Pugna in Clan Wars like -CM or -CD, check it out.

Obviously you can't just pick Pugna and automatically win the game. The success of your team's lineup depends on the synergy with your teammate's heroes and the way you counter the opposing picks.

Here are some examples of effective drafts using Pugna.

1 - The Push Strategy
Pugna's AOE, ability to deal high damage to towers and his item independence make him ideal in a push strat.

A typical lineup should include Pugna, a support summoner, some AOE heroes and a strong battle initiator so you can kill a key hero (this is almost always Vengeful Spirit).

Just as important as your picks are your bans. You need to remove strong counter-push heroes and AOE heroes like Sand King, Earthshaker etc. When banning and picking you must also consider how the lanes will be arranged - ie you can't pick Pugna and solo him mid against Viper or Bane Elemental because he'll get obliterated.

Finally, you can't make your push strat intentions blatantly obvious as you are drafting, because your opposing drafter will counter you easily. Pick 'all-rounder' type heroes first that don't give away your intentions. Here's an example draft:

Picks - (let's say I have first pick)

See how during the first 2 rounds of picking there is no real clear indication of my strategy. VS, Panda and Lock can work in any lineup. In fact, if the enemy chose Pit Lord or another amazing anti push hero, I could simply change my mind and not go for a push strat after all.

In this case, they have drafted strong ganking heroes, which will make the laning phase difficult. I assume they will use mid solo Bane, a PotM/NA lane and finally KotL/PL lane.

Therefore I will put Warlock solo mid against Bane because he can easily survive with heal and probably outfarm him with his range and damage advantage. Pugna will solo a lane with Chen nearby in the jungle to support him, and Panda/VS will lane together which is quite a strong combination.

NA will prove to be a problem early, but luckily it's easy to counter him during pushes with Sentry Wards. The main threat once the pushing phase begins will be KotL's Illuminate. But don't worry - we have VS for that, who will just Nether Swap KotL into the middle of our massive army where he will drop like a fly. Their team is filled with heroes who are very vulnerable to Nether Ward, so the early battles should be a breeze if you use it well.

They have chosen a hard carry - PL - and that should make it much easier to win all the early battle because he will be trying to farm while his team defends 4v5.

Overall both teams have drafted strong lineups, but KotL is their only anti-push hero. With coordination it should be easy to push early and break base before PL becomes a threat.

2 - The Counter-Pick

Suppose your opposition decides to go for a massive high damage AOE combo. Something like Rhasta/Enigma/Sand King/Lina/Warlock.

On paper it looks like an incredible combo, but it's actually a lineup filled with Pugna food.

If any of those heroes use their ultimate in the presence of Nether Ward, they'll find themselves in deep trouble. Sand King is also worth a special mention here - if he uses Epicentre in the fog and Nether Ward zaps him, it will prevent his blink dagger from working and his combo will be useless! Their combo also focuses on pushing towers, so Pugna's AOE will be a strong push counter.

If it were me I would choose 2 key heroes to counter their high manacost spamming combo - Silencer and Pugna. Silencer simply breaks down their combo so badly with his Last Word aura, while Pugna provides an equally scary threat from Nether Ward whenever they use a high mana cost spell.

Basically any time you see a lineup with 2 or 3 Pugna food heroes in it, Pugna is worth considering.

Gondar, the Bounty Hunter

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:29:00 +0000

Summary:
First and foremost; Gondar is a pure ganker and roamer once he reaches level 6, thanks to his lovely skill Track. In short, the Bounty Hunter has 3 nukes - 2 which are physical-based(Wind Walk and Jinada) while the third one is magical-based(Shuriken). Wind Walk is perfect for roaming, scouting, warding and initiating during a gank. Jinada comes equip with a critical and maim which will aid in ganking. Shuriken Toss is a ranged nuke that possesses a mini-stun, perfect for finishing off an enemy with low health out of attack range. And last but not least, what makes Gondar a bounty hunter - Track. This sexy skill makes ganking your job and definitely worth it. Gives bonus MS aura and true sight vision for you and your allies while decreasing the target's armor. And best of all - this shit gives you bonus cash regardless of how the target dies. Just remember, this is how Gondar makes his income and gets money. You do NOT farm creeps, neutrals or last-hit heroes.

Pros:
[+] Above average base movespeed(315).
[+] You counter invisible heroes(Track).
[+] Above average sight vision during night(1000).
[+] You counter channeling skills(Shuriken Toss).
[+] You receive greater bonus gold without last-hitting heroes(Track).
[+] Not very item dependent.
[+] Wind Walk allows you to escape many situations where no true sight is present.

Cons:
[-] Mana issues early on.
[-] Fragile.
[-] No AoE, not as effective in clashes, can only focus on one target at a time.
[-] Terrible lane presence.

________________________________________________

Skills:

Shuriken Toss
The Bounty Hunter throws a shuriken at a target unit, dealing damage.
[Level 1] - 100 Damage
[Level 2] - 200 Damage
[Level 3] - 250 Damage
[Level 4] - 325 Damage

Cooldown: 10 Seconds.
Mana Cost: 90/115/135/155
Casting Range: 650

Shuriken Toss is a medicore nuke in DotA's pool, but it is a solid one with Gondar's skill set. If you see an enemy channeling a dangerous skill, nuke them with Shuriken Toss ASAP(Ex: CM blinks in and ulties, you Shuriken Toss on reaction). Lots of Bounty Hunter players like to last-hit and kill-steal with this nuke, do not make the same mistake. Only exception I would go for a killsteal is if I'm with a support hero like Dazzle or Venge who do not need the money. But if there is a carry like Sven or Nevermore nearby, make sure you give them the kill if they can get it(Afterall, Track gives you your money). Last but not least, always make sure you have enough mana for this nuke when the time counts.

---

Jinada
Passively adds a critical strike and maim to Bounty Hunter's next attack, has a cooldown. Slows for 25% attack and movement speed at all levels.
[Level 1] - 1.4x critical multiplier.
[Level 2] - 1.6x critical multiplier.
[Level 3] - 1.8x critical multiplier.
[Level 4] - 2.0x critical multiplier.

Passive Ability

Jinada is Gondar's other dangerous nuke which is based on physical damage. The best part about this skill is that it scales the entire game, so you will be dishing out hard hits later in the game as well as early game. The slow it grants is great for aiding in ganks. Pop out of Wind Walk, maim them, Track, then finish the target off with your allies.

---

Wind Walk
Turns invisible for a period of time. Deals bonus backstab damage. Transition time decreases per level.
[Level 1] - 30 backstab damage, lasts 15 seconds.
[Level 2] - 60 backstab damage, lasts 20 seconds.
[Level 3] - 90 backstab damage, lasts 25 seconds.
[Level 4] - 120 backstab damage, lasts 30 seconds.

Cooldown: 15 Seconds.
Mana Cost: 50

Wind Walk is one of the perfect skills for initiating undetected during a gank. It is also very useful for roaming passed the other teams common ward spots and warding yourself. This skill can also be used as an escape mechanism but do not rely on it too much, because it is easily countered by dust, true sight, and AoE abilities. The backstab damage it gives is also a small aid in your physical burst damage.

---

Track (Ultimate)
Tracks an enemy hero for 30 seconds or until it dies. Allied units near the tracked target gain 20% movement speed increase. If the target dies, Bounty Hunter gets bonus gold.
[Level 1] - 75 bonus gold, reduces target's armor by 1.
[Level 2] - 150 bonus gold, reduces target's armor by 3.
[Level 3] - 225 bonus gold, reduces target's armor by 5.

Cooldown: 10/7/5 Seconds.
Manacost: 70/60/50
Casting Range: 750/950/1150
Aura Range: 800 (Allies within this range of the tracked target get the movement speed bonus)

Ah, Track. This is what makes Gondar a bounty hunter and is a skill you will soon love to use. Track gives true sight of the target, gives 20% bonus MS to allies nearby, decreases the target's armor and gives Gondar bonus gold regardless of how it dies. Remember in priority to tracking you will want to aim for invis heroes, blinkers, and any good jukers before you start tagging away mindlessly with track.

Hero Track Priority:

1.) Invisibility: Priority: High

When you are around any enemy heroes with invisibility, you make sure their ass is instantly tracked upon sight.

2.) Blinkers: Priority: Medium

Blinkers are excellent jukers and difficult to chase and spot, so make sure they are tracked.

3.) Miscellaneous: Priority: Low

If there are no invisible or blink heroes present, make sure these heroes are tracked.

________________________________________________

Skill Build:

Level 1: (To prevent being first-blood.)
Level 2: (The 25% slow and critical will do more damage and help more than Shuriken Toss can at level 1.)
Level 3: (Shuriken Toss is maxed out from here on, this is your best early game nuke.) Note: If there is an enemy hero in lane with a dangerous channeling skill such as Rhasta's Shackles, take this skill on level 2 instead of Jinada for just incase.
Level 4:
Level 5:
Level 6: (Always remember to take Track when you can.)
Level 7:
Level 8: (Jinada is taken over Wind Walk and maxed next because the damage it gives is more valuable than the backstab from Wind Walk. The maim cooldown improves as well which will be more helpful in ganks. And last but not least; 15 seconds of Wind Walk is all you need to initiate, roam, and escape.)
Level 9:
Level 10:
Level 11:
Level 12: (Wind Walk is maxed from here on out.)
Level 13:
Level 14:
Level 15:
Level 16:

________________________________________________

Item Build:

Starting Items: Level 1-5:

OR

OR

Two sets of tangos are taken for health regeneration during the laning phase. Two clarity potions are taken for your mana needs. Three branches are taken for early stats and will be turned into magic wand later. Slipper is taken for a small boost in damage and will be turned into a wraith later on. Make sure to ask if anyone on your team is going Urn of Shadows, if no one is, take a Gauntlet of Strength instead, which will be used to create Urn of Shadows later on. If you're an avid quelling blade user on melee heroes, it can be gotten on Gondar as well to make last-hitting creeps easier.

---

Early Mid Game: Level 6-10:

OR

OR

OR

Around this time you should have your wand by now, two wraith bands, a bottle or Urn of Shadows, boots, and last but not least, a set of wards. These wards priority will be used on your enemies jungle to prevent their carrry from farming freely. Also, if your support(s) can handle all the warding and you find yourself without having to ward at all, be free to take a void stone or ring of health to form a perseverance with the extra cash you have.

---

Mid Game: Level 11-15:

OR

Your phase boots should be complete for mid game. Why phase boots you ask? Because the damage boost it gives is all going into your Jinada beefing it up. You should also have a Mithril Hammer around this time, make sure to save this for Desolator. Don't forget to keep your enemies jungle warded as well.

---

Late Game: 16-25:

OR

If the game drags into this long, make sure you have Desolator and MKB complete. Vlads is taken to boost up your carry if he is melee and if no other support is going vlads. Perserverance can be upgraded into Battlefury if Vlads is not needed. Remember to also sell your phase boots for travels for the mobility. Heart or Butterfly are 100% complete luxury, do not expect to get them under any other circumstance.

________________________________________________

Best Allies and Worst Foes:

Best Allies:

[+] Gankers:

Make sure to always have an ally ganker with you when ganking and to avoid ganking alone as much as possible. Heroes with stuns, disables, and nukes are perfect for this job.

[+] Support:

Support heroes who can restore your mana and health are greatly appreciated and make your life so much easier. Less fountain trips means more ganking, roaming, and scouting.

---

Worst Foes:

[-] True Sight:

Enemy heroes with true sight completely counter Gondar's stealth which is a big blow. Try to stay away from them when you know you're vulnerable.

[-] Burst Damage:

Due to Gondar's low STR, burst damage is very dangerous and will often be the cause of your death. You need to be extremely careful when around these heroes, as their combos can instantly wipe you out.

[-] Disablers:

Disablers are another major threat when playing Gondar. All it takes is usually one or two(at most), to finish you off.

________________________________________________

Ganking:

When to hunt:

It's highly recommended and best to start your ganking-spree once you reach level 6. After you have Track skilled, you will be ganking and roaming non-stop until the game comes to an end. If you do not have your bottle or urn by this time, have your crow bring you an extra clarity or tango if needed. Make sure to have some wards with you when you roam pass their jungle so you can make sure their carry will be spotted if trying to jungle.

---

The Prey:

Hardcore Carries: Priority: High

Your job above all: is to make sure their carry does not farm freely and to gank them as much as possible. Always remember; it doesn't matter how much times you ganked that Crystal Maiden when that Phantom Lancer has farmed up and is destroying your base. Know your priorities and have them on lock.

Semi-Carries: Priority: Medium

Heroes who can semi-carry are your next victims. Always keep an eye and be aware of who on the opposing team is able to semi-carry. If their carry has just been ganked and you're looking for a new target, semi-carries will be your main focus.

Fragile Easy Gold: Priority: Low

There will be a few opportunities when you are roaming and there will be an easy target spotted for some quick cash. You may gank them with your allies and gain some extra gold. But please, do not spend most of your time looking to gank fragile heroes who are not carries. They are only there to derail your focus and should never ever receive your full attention.

Guide to Terrorblade the Soul Keeper!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:41:00 +0000

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 649x433.

Introduction:

Hello there! I've been playing DOTA for the past 5 years and I have played so many matches Pub's and Inhouse games and I want to create a guide on my favorite hero Terrorblade. Note that this is my first guide so it is not perfect please do not flame my guide and give destructive comments rather give me some tips to help me improve my guide. also if you find any typo here or any mistakes please notify me please bear with me english is not my native language .

Contents:

Hero Overview

Hero Statistics

Pros and Cons

Skills

Skill Build

Item Build

Strategies

Replays

Changelog

Hero Overview

In my opinion I think that Terrorblade is one of the most underestimated hero's of the game mainly because he is hard to use especially his ultimate: Sunder and he has no disable or slow and the fact that he has low HP makes him a glass canon in clashes. But in a hands of an experienced player, TB can definitely turn the tide of battle with illusions that can deal almost the same damage as the real one and even countergank heroes. In this guide I'll be teaching you how to unleash his full potential as a late game carry. So, what are we waiting for? Let's get started.

Hero Statistics:

Affiliation: Scourge
Damage: 48 - 54
Armor: 5.1
Movespeed: 300
Attack Range: 100 (melee)
Attack Animation: 0.3 / 0.6
Casting Animation: 0.5 / 0.51
Base Attack Time: 1.5
Missile Speed: Instant
Sight Range: 1800 / 800

15 + 1.9

22 + 3.2

19 + 1.75

We can see that Terrorblade has high agility gain, very low strength gain and an average intelligence gain but his low str can be compensated by his high armor which can add to his EHP. He also has average movespeed, but he has a very fast BAT.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

[+] High armor
[+] High Attack Speed/ BAT
[+] Can countergank heroes
[+] At Late game Illusion Pawns and can Push Insane

Cons:

[-] Very low Str gain
[-] Cannot lane independently
[-] Very Item Dependent
[-] Hard to use Ultimate: Sunder
[-] Very weak at Early game

When to Pick Terrorblade:

1.) You have at least one carry on your team
2.) You Like to pawn with Illusions
3.) You have patience in farming
4.) You want to own at Late game
5.) You have map awareness

When NOT to Pick Terrorblade:

1.) You want to KS (i.e Dagon)
2.) You play support
3.) You are a Noob (Kidding)
4.) You are Impatient at farming

Skills

Soul Steal

• Damage type: magical
• Not channeling.
• The link will end if the target is farther than 575 units away from Soul Keeper.
• If cast on an ally, there is a sub-ability that allows you to terminate the link.

Author's Note: Soul Steal has now recently been buffed up. This spell no longer channels and can be used while running or attacking your enemy. you should be aware of the range of the link.

Conjure Image

Creates 1 Illusion
Deal 25%/35%/45%/55% damage
Take 300% more damage
Last 30 seconds

Authors Note: Nothing much to say about this skill, it is the 2nd most strongest illusion on the game. I'll show the mechanics on illusions later.

Metamorphosis

• Terrorblade gains 20 additional movement speed when under Metamophosis.
• Metamorphosed Terrorblade regenerates 3 HP per second as oposed to normal 0.25.
• While in this state, Terrorblade will have a Base Attack Time of 1.6 seconds.

Author's Note: Very nice skill. It's give extra HP as well as being range for 60 sec. you can also use this to conjure yourself while in metamorphosis so that all your illusions can become range. but, it has a long cooldown 50 sec. at level 4.

Sunder

• Damage type: direct HP removal
• Interrupts channeling spells of the target.
• Magic immunity on the target or Terrorblade will prevent that unit from having their HP changed. The other unit will still change its hp correctly.

Author's Note: Terrorblade's Ultimate, this is a very hard skill to use because it is effective if your HP is below 40%. but if used correctly can turn the tide of battles can counter ganks. You can also use this on your allies and illusions.

Skill Build

The Jungle Build

1. Soul Steal
2. Conjure Image
3. Soul Steal
4. Metamorphosis
5. Soul Steal
6. Sunder
7. Soul Steal
8. Conjure Image
9. Conjure Image
10. Conjure Image
11. Sunder
12. Metamorphosis
13. Metamorphosis
14. Metamorphosis
15. Stats
16. Sunder
17-25. Stats

Explanation:

Since the start of 6.67b. Soul Steal has received it's buff that it needed. We are going to Max it first so that we can survive in the Lane or Jungling, and it has a very low mana cost 80 only on all levels. next at level 4 get 1 level of Metamorphosis for escape purposes, since it adds 20 MS and 3 HP regen, It can mean the difference between life and death. After leveling Soul Steal next up is Conjure Image since it will make your illusions stronger. And of course get Sunder As soon as possible.

Item Build

Starting Items: level 1-6

+ x3 + x2

Early-Mid game: level 7-11

+

Total Cost: 2905 gold.

At Early-Mid you should have at least have a Power Treads and 3 wraith bands. with stats your hp should have at least be 1k or more.

Mid-Late game: level 12-18

+ +

Total Cost: 7205 gold.

at Mid-Late game getting SnY should be your first priority since it gives Agility and Strength. Which can benefit illusions and the maim is good because you can use it while in meta form.

Late or End game: level 19-25

or

at late or end game it is kinda situational what item will you buy: if you feel like your dying alot in clashes then go for HoT, but if you think you need more damage and evasion go for Butterfly.

Total Cost: 12705 with Heart
13205 with Butterfly

Extension Items

Getting Manta on TB is great since it adds stats and can generate 2 more illusions of TB while not as powerful as conjure image it can definitely help in clashes and pushes. And on version 6.69 manta can now be used while TB is in Meta form.

Total Cost: 4900 gold.

If you've been farming the whole game and you have a shitload of money. might as well buy a skadi. it is the ultimate item on TB. with Stats and HP and MP boost as well as cold attack with this item you can ensure no one escapes you and your illusions will love this item.

Total Cost: 5950 gold.

Orb of Venom is now a good option to TB. First of all it's very cheap for a 12% slow. Illusions can benefit from the slow and You'll also need it because it is a component of EoS. you can get this Early-Mid game if you have extra cash.

Due to some Debates, I've decided to include Diffusal Blade as well. the Agility and Int stats are a welcome. even though the mana burn will only work on melee illusions (not in meta form). the purge can help you net some kills. and if there are no more charges then you can upgrade it to level 2.

Soul Ring is also included here, it gives good HP and Mana regen and you can also use Sacrifice to get more mana. don't worry about the HP loss you can always get it back by using Soul Steal. But be careful in using Soul Ring since you don't have that much max HP to support it.

Rejected Items

Please Don't get this it is a waste of money. and the old go to roshan, get your hp around 20% and sunder dagon an enemy is stupid and risky. And it doesn't even benefit TB in any way.

Other Orb effects aren't usefull on TB except for SnY, Diffusal and EoS. Desolator gives only raw damage and it isn't transfereed to illusions. as for Satanic and HotD the lifesteal is good but your illusions don't lifesteal and you have your Ultimate. Sunder which is better than Lifesteal. Mjollnir/Maelstrom is a bad choice since it doesn't give any stat bonuses and the AS and DMG from it cannot be transferred to illusions.

While getting Vanguard seems good at first, actually the Damage Reduction cannot be transferred to illusions. and it gives no stat bonuses. HoT is far superior than Vanguard.

Direct Damage Items Cannot be transferred to illusions, Illusions can only inherit damage from stats. (i.e Butterfly.). As for Buriza, Illusions can crit strike but the damage is only minimal almost as 1/4 of the original crit. Illusions cannot also Bash even though you can see the "Swirly" thing that indicates a bash it is a fake bash. Illusions cannot cleave. As for radiance it is kinda good with the immolation and everything but the 60 damage is useless on illusions.

Vladimir's Might seem good because of it's lifesteal aura and damage. but since you'll be always metamorphing the whole game the aura is useless and the damage is so little and cannot be transferred to illusions.

Don't buy lothar please. I've seen alot of noobs and Pub games buy this shit and still doing the old Windwalk + Sunder + Dagon. It is a retard item. Period.

Game Play

Early Game level: 1-6

Buy all your starting items and head on to TOP when you are in scourge and BOT lane when you are in sentinel. DO NOT SOLO. this is the worst you can have in a lane. Find a partner usually the one who can babysit you (i.e Warlock) or any support hero. Once your in your lane. wait for the neutrals so spawn and go to the weakest neutral. my suggestions are the Kobold + 2 Trolls or the Witch + 2 Fel Beasts, also the 3 Harpies and the 4 Satyrs. First conjure yourself and let the illusion go to the creeps. when the illusions in near dying take out your illusion and the real TB will attack the creeps. this way the creeps will focus on you not your illusion. Once you lose your mana buy all your items and suicide. this will make going back to the base less time consuming. To Sum up Early Game. Farm--Farm--Farm--Suicide--Farm.

Early-Mid game level: 7-11

Come Early-Mid game ganking now happens. In this stage you are still farming at neutral creeps, it is IMPORTANT that you have Map Awareness (i.e someone is missing in their lane.) there is a chance that he/she will gank you. to prevent this try sending your illusion to scout the whole neutral camp. then go back to farming. Just be patient and try not to die alot a this stage. To Sum up Early-Mid game. Farm--Survive--Farm.

Mid-Late game level: 12-18

Now once you have your SnY and Treads. you can stop farming at neutrals and you can participate in pushes and clashes. It is important that you Metamorph before going to battle since it gives a Huge advantage. being range. In this stage just push the enemies towers and still try to farm for Heart or Butterfly. Remember, STICK with your TEAMATES.

Late or End Game level: 19-25

End Game! and it's your time to Shine! at this stage you are already pawning everyone that comes in your way. Your illusions can dish and take damage at the same time. In clashes if you are Focus Fired then your HP drops below 40% use sunder and Beat the hell out of your enemies. Then coordinate with your teamates to push towers and eventually win the game.

Mini-Guide to Illusions.

Illusions can't use any active ability. Passive item abilities that illusions can use:

Evasion
Critical Strike (it should be noted that the red number is before the illusion reduction)
Feedback (only works on melee illusions)
Movespeed (flat and percentage)
Attribute bonus (Strength, agility and intelligence)
Flat HP or mana
True Sight
Radiance burn aura (the aura still will not affect units already affected by a different Radiance aura)
Endurance Aura
Quelling Blade's demolish

Passive item abilities that illusions can't use (even if the animation might show something different):

Raw damage or armor (from abilities or items)
HP or mana regeneration
Orb effects (except Feedback on melee illusions)
Cleave
Bash (it works in some rare scenarios, read more about it below), this includes the interrupt on Monkey King Bar
Damage block
Spell resistance
Backstab

Bash on Illusions

Illusions may proc the skill Bash, however they will never deal any bonus damage, also the stun they place is "fake" because despite the animation the target can still move, also if another bash hits the unit while in this "Fake bash" state it will only prolong the fake buff, this is also true the opposite way, if a real unit bashes a target and then the illusion "fake" bashes the real bash will be prolonged.

It should be noted that since the last remake of Basher illusions can no longer bash using it, however MKB Bash remained unchanged.

Allies And Rivals

Allies:

With a Disable and a AoE Slow which can help you Kill your enemies easily and Brilliance Aura can help you Spam your illusions.

Dazzle's Skills are a God Send to TB nearly all his skills can help out TB. with Poison touch to slow an enemy, Shallow grave to prevent you from dying, Shadow Wave to heal you and his ultimate: Weave can make tanks into nothing more than paper. what more can you ask for?

Omniknight is everyone's best friend. with Heal, repel and Guardian angel you can basically survive any clash.

Any Disabler and Stunners can help TB kill his opponent in a matter of seconds.

Rivals

Your no.1 Threat is Raigor. If he sees you pushing your lane with a lot of creeps then he blinks and unleashes his full combo on you. your dead before you even had a chance of using sunder.

Mortred's Critical can kill you in almost 5 hits and it's worse if she is fed and is item locked with BKB then your basically dead.

Harbringer is like the Ultimate counter to TB. all his skills can kill him very easily. Like, Arcane Orb hurts alot and it can kill your illusions in 3-4 hits. And once your HP drops below 40% he will cast Sanity's Eclipse and you will Die without a chance of using Sunder.

Silencer is not much of a threat when his alone. but in clashes he will usually stay back of the team and once he cast global silence you won't be able to use sunder or your skills. Try to gank him alone and kill him.

Rooftrellen, the mighty tree

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 07:35:00 +0000

This is my guide for:

*Note: I spent a lot of time making this guide readable and colorful. This guide has a great layout compared to my other guides. so please don't give this guide a low rating just because of the layout.

Table of contents:

This guide will be containing:

1. Hero intro
2. Background history
3. Pros and Cons of Tree
4. Why and When to pick tree
5. Skiis
6. Skill build
7. Items section
8. Early game items
8.5. Core items
9. Mid game items
10. Late game items
11. Optional items
12. Situational items
13. Rejected items
14. Early game strategies
14.5 Sentinel placing strategies
15. Mid game strategies
16. Late game strategies
17. Rune section
18. Good allies/worst enemies
18.5 Replays/videos
19. Credits
20. The end

1. Hero intro:

The Treant Protector's main focus is helping allies and absorbing damage, although his Overgrowth spell is one of the most powerful offensive abilities in the game. Rooftrellen can buff both his own and his allies' armor and hit point regeneration to very high levels with Natural Armor, and if that isn't enough to keep them safe he can turn them invisible with Nature's Guise. As long as they remain near a tree, they will remain hidden. Eyes in the Forest give Rooftrellen the ability to spy on his enemies. Although most of his abilities are defensive in nature, the Treant Protector's offensive power should not be underestimated. Using Overgrowth he can entangle all enemies in a large area around him, dealing lots of damage and stopping their movement for several seconds. In addition, the Treant Protector is no slouch in combat himself, with a powerful physical attack and near unstoppable constitution. Much like nature itself, this hero should not be underestimated.

2. Background history:

A treant of immense age and wisdom, Rooftrellen was merely a sapling during the invasion of the Burning Legion. Having grown powerful over thousands of years, Rooftrellen has lent his considerable might to the Sentinel cause. An omnipresent force in the forest, he is capable using his power over the forest to hide his allies. Rooftrellen is aided by the forest itself, providing him with a thick living armor of vines and entangling nearby foes in a deadly embrace, allowing Rooftrellen to pound his victims to dust with his massive gnarled limbs.

3. Pros and Cons of Tree

Pros:

-Can cast invis on allies (Nature's Guise)
-Has a warding skill (Setntinels)
-Very high base damage
-Very high str growth
Can tank really well (Due to Living Armor)
-Dosen't need a lot of mana
-Spammable skills

Cons:

-Requires some micromanagement
-Not newbie friendly
-Low agi growth

4. When and why to pick Tree:

When:

-When your team needs an AOE disabler
-When your team needs a tank
-When the other team had picked weak heros (Like lion)
-When your team needs someone that can ward

When not:

-Don't pick Tree if the enemy team has too many disablers
-Don't pick Tree if the enemy team has nuker/silencers

Why pick Tree?

-He can ward very well at little cost of some mana
-He can become invisible
-He has a powerful AOE disable
-He's very fun to play of you played him for a while

*Note: If you want to learn more about Tree's skills, stats, hp etc. etc. Then please go to:http://www.playdota.com/heroes/treant-protector

5. Skills:

Nature's guise:

• *If the unit has a distance more than 375 to the closest tree, the invisibility will be removed.
* Can be used on units even if they aren't close to a tree, but the invisibility will be removed almost instantly.
* Treant Protector can cast spells without losing invisibility from Nature's Guise.

This could be a life saving and ganking skill. But what truly makes this skill great is that you can cast it on allies. Always remember to cast this on a low hp ally!

Forest Sentinel

* Forest Sentinel in passive mode has Permanent Invisibility and Sight Range 500.
* When activated, the Forest Sentinel loses Permanent Invisibility and its Sight Range decreases to 100.
* Active Forest Sentinel searches for targets in 525 AoE.
* When an active Forest Sentinel hits a target, it transforms back into the passive form.

This is your warding and nuking skill. In order to kill with this skill you must have Sentinels in the right places. Otherwise it will just do little or no damage to your enemies. (More will be explained later)

*Note: More about Sentinels will be mentioned at eh "sentinel placing" strategy section!

Transform Sentinel:

* Cooldown is shared with all Sentinels.
* When cast on ground, affects the closest Forest Sentinel to the targeted point.

This is your activate Sentinel skill.

Living Armor:

* Can target structures.

This is a spammable and tanking skill. The 4hp regeneration in early game is great. You CAN cast this on buildings so I suggest casting this on low hp towers since it restores their hp and gives them bonus armor. If you cast this on heros like Axe then they can become invincible. XD

Overgrowth:

* Damage type: magical
* Prevents usage of the Blink spell.
* Disable works on currently magic immune units, however if a unit becomes magic immune while already affected by Overgrowth, they will break free.

Very powerful skill. The best thing about it is that its AOE skill. Always combine this with Dagger and Refresher!

6. Skill build:

*Note: Since this is an In-depth guide, there will be multiple skill builds!

Classic build:

1. Forest Sentinel
2. Living Armor
3. Living Armor
4. Nature's guise
5. Living Armor
6. Overgrowth
7. Living Armor
8. Forest Sentinel
9. Forest Sentinel
10. Forest Sentinel
11. Overgrowth
12. Nature's guise
13. Nature's guise
14. Nature's guise
15. Stats
16. Overgrowth
17-25. Stats

Justification:

This is the classic build that most people use before the change in v6.67.

Living Armor is gotten first because it provides you with good laning capabilities and gives you good armor for tanking needs.

Nature's Guise is only gotten at mid game because not a lot of people will gank you in early game. But take 1 level of it in early game just in case

Forest Sentinel is maxed after Living Armor because it's your only nuke/stun/ward, but in early game we need more mana for armor.

Overgrowth is take ASAP because its a mass AOE disable.

Tanking Build:

1. Living Armor
2. Stats
3. Living Armor
4. Stats
5. Living Armor
6. Overgrowth
7. Living Armor
8. Stats
9. Nature's guise
10. Forest Sentinel
11. Overgrowth
12. Nature's guise
13. Nature's guise
14. Nature's guise
15. Forest Sentinel
16. Overgrowth
17. Forest Sentinel
18. Forest Sentinel
19-25. Stats

Justification:

Living Armor is maxed ASAP becuase it's your main tanking skill.

Stats is taken in early game becuase it gives you more mana and hp.

Forest Sentinel isn't taken very early becuase your a tank. Although 1 level of it in early game can act as wards.

Overgrowth is taken ASAP becuase it's your main disable.

Nuking build:

*Note: This is the new build which involves taking advantage of his Sentinels.

1. Forest Sentinel
2. Living Armor
3. Forest Sentinel
4. Nature's guise
5. Living Armor
6. Overgrowth
7. Forest Sentinel
8. Living Armor
9. Forest Sentinel
10. Living Armor
11. Overgrowth
12. Nature's guise
13. Nature's guise
14. Nature's guise
15. Stats
16. Overgrowth
17-25. Stats

Justification:

Living Armor is maxed after Sentinels because its your main nuke/ward .

Forest Sentinelis taken ASAP becuase it's your main nuke.

Overgrowth is taken ASAP becuase it's your main disable.

Nature's guise isn't taken until mid game becuase there aren't that many ganks in early game. But take it at level 4 just in case.

7. Item section:

There are 3 ways to play Tree: Normal (Sort of a combination between a tank and caster), Tanker, and caster. So there will be 3 types of skill build.

8. Good starting items:

Since there are too many starting items that are good on Tree. Just simply pick anything you can afford in this pile of good and basic items!

8.5 Core items:

*Note: There are 3 types of core items. Pick one that your suitable with.

Tanker Core:

Justification:

2x Bracers give you good hp mana and agi. Its also a cheap item.

Treads is a must for Tree. More stats, more attack speed. But in late game you can sell treads and get BoT.

Stout shield is required because you are a tank!

Cloak gives you good magic resistance.
The new Urn is a great item on Tree. He will be tanking a lot so some healing item will help.

Caster core:

Justification:

2x Bracers give you good hp mana and agi. Its also a cheap item.

Treads is a must for Tree. More stats, more attack speed. But in late game you can sell treads and get BoT.

Bottle is gotten because you are a caster, and casters need a lot of mana!

Magic wand is gotten because it allows you to continuosly spam armor and give you good hp regeneration.
TP scroll is gotten because it gives you lane domination in early games and can occasionally save lives.

Normal core:

Justification:

Bracer give you good hp mana and agi. Its also a cheap item.

A null is gotten because you are both a tanker and a caster. Which will require a lot of both hp and mana.

Treads is a must for Tree. More stats, more attack speed. But in late game you can sell treads and get BoT.

The new Urn is a great item on Tree. He will be tanking a lot so some healing item will help.

Soul ring is a great item combined with Urn. You can instantly gain 150 mana by activating soul ring but loose 150 hp. But then you can easily use Urn on yourself to restore hp!

TP scroll is gotten because it gives you lane domination in early games and can occasionally save lives.

9. Mid game items(Extentions):

Justification:

Vanguard is probably one of the best early-mid game tanking item in the entire game. 70%chance to block 40 damage is insane in early-mid game. If you are planning to get Poor Man's Shield then please don't get Vanguard. The damage block from both items stacks but stacks very poorly. So get one or another. Like I said before, Vanguard is great for heroes that are level 6-14. But in late game you might want to switch to +armor items.

Hood is a good anti-nuker item. You might want to get this if there are a lot of nukers. But if there are many disablers then you might want to consider getting BKB.

Dagger is a must on all Trees. It is the key to landing a perfect Overgrowth and its a great escape tool. Blink+Overgrowth is a deadly combo at all stages of the game.

Necrobook is actually pretty good on Tree. Combined with Overgrowth, its basically GG. Summon your Necros while ultiing and command them to attack the entangled enemies. Watch as they get torn apart by your freaky combo xD.

Hyperstone will work wonders on Tree. It provides him with an insane amount of attack speed. Plus, you can turn this into an Ac later on.

Although Tree is good with Vlads, sometimes your allies will get it for you. If that happens then don't spend 2000g on this. Vlads provides Tree with decent armor and a great lifesteal aura. The Necrs summoned from Necrobook also gets the aura bonus.

10. Late game luxries:

Justification:

provides Tree with good amount of armor and gives him monster attack speed. Very good choice.

Heart gives Tree about 1000(!)hp. This is the ultimate tanking item and I advise all tanking Trees to get this item in late game.

is another good tanking item. The armor isn't really why its often used. The 200 damage nuke and the slow is! This is a great ganking item as well as a great Anti-DPS item.

is a very powerful anti-disabler item. Simply activate Avatar and charge into battle. Get this if you have trouble with disablers.

is undoubtfully the deadliest item for Tree. The refresh CD ability is just insane. 2 ulties=10 second disable! This is not a must item although its one of the best items Tree can buy.

provides Tree with an awsome disable as well as almost unlimited mana. This item has great synergies with Refresher.

can be used as a powerful silence as well as more damage. The Soul Burn ability is tree's only possible silence!

could be used for more damage while ulting someone. +60 damage is very high and could become even higher combined with Orchid.

11. Optional Items

is more of a supporter item. The spell block is great but BkB is simply better.

is a pure support item. Again, this item could be replaced by BKB. But if you need a anti-nuker item. Then get this!

is a DPS item. Most DPS Trees don't really have much of a future simply because he dosen't have any DPS skills. But you can still get this if you need some STR/ASPD.

isn't really that good on Tree. If you combine this with AC, however. Then you will become the beast.

is ok I guess. But there are just too many better items. Plus, this item costs a shitload of money.

12. Situational items:

is an okay farming item. But due to the fact that it cost a lot and people always forgetting to use it it might not be so great after all.

is sort of an anti-DPSer item. This item gives very poor stats and cost a lot. I wouldn't really buy this item.

can be used for ganking. But it gives no damage and useless Agi.

is ONLY for wind walkers/heroes with invis skills.

13. Rejected items:

is awful on Tree. Sure, the extra Ms helps you gank. But the Ms bonus is very minimum. The active skill is awful. In my opinion, Cyclone makes a hero invincible and immobile for 2.5 second. What's the point of that? If you want a disab;e then get Guinsoo.

works horribly with Tree. Tree's Living armor is just awful with Blademail. It gives you more damage reduction but Blademail carriers often requires minimum damage reduction to make Blademail do more damage.

dosen't really amplifies any damage at all. Plus, the Agi bonus is almost useless.

cost simply too much. If you have been beyond godlike for an hour or so then you might have enough gold to get this item.

is useless. You already have an invis skill!

14. Early game strategies:

General strategy:

In early game, your objective is to stay alive. Which is a very easy task for Tree because his Living armor and Nature's guise. Not a lot of people like to get invis-counters in early game so spam Nature's Guise if possible. If you need some lane staying capability then spam armor, and always cast armor on damaged towers since they will restore tower hp too and give it more armor. You shouldn't really be ganking that much until level 6. But if you had obtained a DD rune then feel free to gank. By the way, tried to get some +hp starting items like Ganulet and Circlet, they will help you a lot in early game!

Heroes to watch out for!

Justification:

alone isn't really a threat. But if he's spotted with an enemy hero. Then he can do some serious damage. He's rot does mega damage in early game and can hook you back to him.

Solution:

Cast Nature's Guise whenever he starts Rotting!

can push like there is no tomorrow. Watch out if you're laning with him. He can push a tower down in just 5 minutes and he can also trap you with Sprout.

Solution:

Harass him back! Spam living armor! Your attack is strong enough to do some serious damage on Furion. Hide behind the trees. When he comes. Attack! Use Guise if you need to run. Eventually he'll ran back to the fountain, giving you lane domination for a while!

can't do a lot of dmage in early game. But onces he hit level 6 and gets Vlads then beware! He's attack will be too OP for you to handle alone, so get an ally to help you kill him.

SSolution:

Living armor is a great way to fend him off. Level 4 armor gives you about 50% damage reduction which is more than enough to withstand Ursa's attack. Use Guise to run away and use Overgrowth to kill him!

is famous for her arrow. The only thing that you need to worrie about her is her arrow. Her arrow is slow and dodgeable so dodge it at all costs (by simply moving left or right).

Solution:

Dodge the arrow!

can creep pull very well (Sneak in behind the enemy tower before creeps spawn and when creeps spawn, he tanks the creep damage and spin while ally creeps destroy the enemy tower). Tree is a great counter to that. Living armor will counter Axe's spin and plus, Tree does mega damage to Axe.

Solution:

Try to not get caught up in Axe's spin or Call. Both of them are very dangerous. Use Guise to run away. If creeps are attacking your tower, then simply attack the creeps and they'll follow you. Get a range hero to come to your lane and start harassing Axe!

Solution:

Harass Axe if you can! If not then get a ranged hero to come to your lane!

is somewhat a challenging opponent. He can Mana Drain you and stun you. But if you spam armor on yourself you should be fine.

Solution:
Spam armor on yourself! Bring more healing items!

is sort of a more sneaky version of Lion. He's mana burn dosen't sting that much, since you have low Int. But he's impale and Urna Swarm is really annoying.

Solution:

Harass him! Avoid his annoying beetles.

is a more freaky version of NA. It's just impossible to farm with this guys. But there is a useable solution.

Solution:

Try to get him to Blink away by harassing him whenever possible. Use guise to get away. Whenever he comes up and last hit then harass him. Place a few Sentinels around him to harass him even more. Bring tons of clarity potions.

can harass very well due to his spear. But he is useless with out a lot of hp. So try to run him out of hp. Place Sentinels the area and harass him to bring down his hp. If uses a healing item than attack it to bring the heal to minimum.

Solution:

Ran him out of hp! By either via attack or Sentinels

Laning scenarios:

Vs 1 meele:

Your task is very simple. Just last hit and harass! Trei to avoid being ganked and call mias.

Vs 2 meeles:

Again, the task is pretty simple. But there are 2 heros this time so be careful. Use Nature guise to run away and cast armor on yourself if you need a heal.

Vs 1 meele and 1 range:

The meele hero isn't a big deal but beware of the ranged one. He/she will most likely to harass the shit out of you. Play safe, go back to fountain if you need a big heal. I would suggest the use of Healing Salves in this situation.
Vs 2 ranges

Vs 2 ranges means that you have to be really careful when farming. Due to the fact that ranged heros can harass the shit out of meele heroes. So instead of pushing I would saty back and only come up when last hitting. Simply let them push, and when they Push to your tower then cast armor on it.

End of early game strategies

14.5 Sentinel placing strategies:

COMING SOON!

15.Mid game strategies:

Mid game is very easy for Tree, he has one of the best ganking skills and ultimate in game and can gank very well.In mid game, you should be ganking a lot. Use Overgrowth to stun and use Nature's Guise to hide. Use blink dagger to land your ultimate. You should probably have gotten your core and ungraded them into extentions by now. If you haven't then I suggest that you kill a few heroes and farm for a while. Anyways, mid game is like food to Tree, everything is very easy. The max death I got in late game was 1.

16.Late game strategies:

There isn't really a general strategy for late game. You have good skills, all of your items are good. You become the tank.... I'm not gonna say much about late game. But please beware of carries!

Good allies/worst enemies:

Disablers/silencers/stunners:

Healers:

Gankers:

Wind-walkers:

Mana burners:

17. Rune section:

Double damage:

Gives 2x of your original damage.

DD is one of the best runes for Tree. He can gank early in the game if he obtained a DD. But DD is very rare to find and the duration isn't that good.

Regeneration:

Grants the user 100hp and 50 mana regeneration per second for 30 seconds.

This rune is your life saver in early game but sucks in late game. The duration is a little short and this rune will be dispelled when you are attacked. Still, it's a very good rune in early game.

Invisibility:

Grants 45 second invisibility.

Useless, you already have Nature's Guise.

Haste:

Hast is the rune you want to find. n mid and early game DD and Regen will take the spotlight but in late game Haste is the best. This rune can help you gank very well and can save your life! Always keep an eye out for this.

Illusion:

Gives 2 illusions of yourself when used.

Illusion can be a real pain in the @$$ if used correctly. When you get this rune, send an image to the enemy hero and watch as he waste mana on the Illusion! Illusions will help a lot when you land a perfect ultimate.

Guide To Phantom Lancer

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 07:09:00 +0000

GUIDE TO AZWRAITH, THE PHANTOM LANCER

Ok now that were all done with that cool pic of the icy gorilla of dota lets move on to some pl stats

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT COMING UP NOT FOR T3H FAINT AT H34RT

~ PHANTOM LANCER, A TALE OF A GORILLA

Although his true name is unknown to his allies, Azwraith's assigned name tells you enough. Like the Angel of Death, Azrael, he fights to rid the world of those who choose to embrace undeath. He is able to appear and disappear at will like a wraith, often appearing in many places at once. Azwraith is more than capable of dispatching the undead using his lance, each blow sending them closer to the spirit-realm. This lance is the source of his astounding ability to duplicate himself, whenever it draws blood he can use their life to create weaker copies of himself.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/I][/FONT]

TECHNICAL STATISTICS

Starting HP: 492 || Starting MP: 273 || Base Damage: 45-67
Base Armor: 3.2 || Strength: 18 + 2 || Agility: 23 + 2.8 || Intelligence: 21 + 2

Looking at his stats it is clear that he is......AN AGILITY HERO!!!!!!!!!!...wait...u already knew that...right.
Whatever,aside from that it is seen that for an agility hero he has mediocre strength and not so great starting HP..slightly higher than nevermores or lunas im guessing.His base agility itself is really good and his agility gain is pretty much above good but its not like mortreds or tb's.But for an agility hero Azzy has a huge base intelligence and int growth(nerd ).
His armour is allright if you ask me but te thing that truly sets him apart is his base damage.His damage cap is one of the highest in the game if not the highest but it comes with a cost...the damage gap..for him its 22 points but his average damage is ....carry 1 there....that adds to 5...divided by 2.....=56 which is really good considering many times the strikes will max out to 67 at level 1 ensuring a last hit
After looking at his skills its clearly evident he is supposed to be a late gamer...duh... he requires some coordination to play but nothing great

His role in a team is to farm up early to mid and start owning with some good combo's.For him farming is of the utmost importance even though its damn easy after he gets some attack speed.He is used for mass chaos and confusion to make his illusion absorb shock and damage from the opponent and make them fear the phantom lancer...He is truly a force to be reckoned with and really really fun to play

Pros:

* Looks cool
* Good agi and agi gain
* Good int and int gain
* Massive damage
* Has good nuke to domnate a lane and...ks
* Has an escape mechanism
* Best image hero in dota
* One of the best late-gamers
* Ability to play games with you oppponents mind
* Massive pushing ability
* Great last hitting and farming capability

Cons:

* Melee
* Sad str and str gain
* Sad base HP
* Armour isnt that good
* Somewhat item dependent
* Sorta squishy
* Needs to floss
* Broken Horn

SKILLS

Spirit Lance :

Throws a magical spirit from his lance at a target damaging it and slowing it down for 3 seconds. An illusion is created attacking the target.
Casting range: 750 || Cooldown: 7 seconds

Level 1 - Deals 100 damage and Cripples for 10%. Illusion lasts 2 seconds. (125 Mana)
Level 2 - Deals 150 damage and Cripples for 20%. Illusion lasts 4 seconds. (130 Mana)
Level 3 - Deals 200 damage and Cripples for 30%. Illusion lasts 6 seconds. (135 Mana)
Level 4 - Deals 250 damage and Cripples for 40%. Illusion lasts 8 seconds. (140 Mana)

Comment: Really good early game skill doesnt require too much mana considering Azzy's good nerdyness. Decent damage used for damage early game and ksing late game..the cripple effect is like and icing.Whats more it produces an image on contact cool eh?Late game that image can produce its own image and so on.
note:When Azzy already has an image and uses this skill,his image will also do a non damaging spirit lance animation so that the opponent cant figure out the real azzy.It only has 1 drawback..azzy'z images being sorta retarded launches their animation a lil later than yours so a eral life geek who observes minute detail can guess who is the real Azzy.
But we can fool them and use this to our advantage..ill tell u how later

Dopple Walk:

Allows the Phantom Lancer to become invisible for a period of time, leaving behind a duplicate of himself to confuse enemies. 10% movement bonus at all levels. Lasts 8 seconds.
This illusion lasts 20 seconds || Cooldown: Varies per level

Level 1 - 150 mana. 30 second cooldown.
Level 2 - 120 mana. 25 second cooldown.
Level 3 - 90 mana. 20 second cooldown.
Level 4 - 60 mana. 15 second cooldown.

Comment: Ok so its not a wind walk but hey it cost relatively less mana if you look at you mana pool.Its basically used for instant escapes and sudden ganks and fooling your opponent and dodging projectile type animation(storm bolt, toss etc).One perk is that its instant no casting time whatsoever so you can keep running and use dopplewalk and not be interrupted for a milisecond.This also leaves behind an image which is programmed to face the direction you were running when you activated this skill and the image will keep running in that direction for 600 units so unlike windwalk the enemy wont know you went invi so he might not use certin items like dust until its too late.

Juxtapose(passive):

Whenever the Phantom Lancer attacks he will randomly create a duplicate of himself. Limit of 5 images. Duplicates last 20 seconds.
Passive Ability || Images deal 25% damage and receive 400%.

Level 1 - 3% chance.
Level 2 - 6% chance.
Level 3 - 9% chance.
Level 4 - 12% chance.

Comment:This is Azzy's creme' la creme' really. This allows you to generate images like a machine and the chances might not be high but its better than trolls bash so get attackspeed. The images deal 25% of your damage so 4 of them is essentially a 100% damage increase which is huge. This makes you one of the best farmers and pushers around and very formidable in combat.

Phantom's Edge(passive):

Gives the Phantom Lancer an edge in combat by increasing Juxtapose's image generation and increasing magic resistance. Additionally, it enables his images to generate their own images.

Level 1 - 10% magic resistance, 3% chance illusions will duplicate, 2% increase in Juxtapose.
Level 2 - 15% magic resistance, 5% chance illusions will duplicate, 4% increase in Juxtapose.
Level 3 - 20% magic resistance, 7% chance illusions will duplicate, 6% increase in Juxtapose

Comment: Magic resistance..Images producing images..what more do you want? This is one of the best late game ultimates and makes a properly played Azzy near invincible in combat.Cant find any negative side.

Skill Build

Level 1 - Dopplewalk
Level 2 - Spirit Lance
Level 3 - Spirit Lance
Level 4 - Dopplewalk
Level 5 - Spirit Lance
Level 6 - Dopplewalk
Level 7 - Spirit Lance
Level 8 - Dopplewalk
Level 9 - Juxtapose
Level 10 - Phantom Edge
Level 11 - Phantom Edge
Level 12 - Juxtapose
Level 13 - Juxtapose
Level 14 - Juxtapose
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Phantom Edge

Now in most properly co-ordinated games against half competent opponents you will be using this skill build for Azzy since they will be ganking the livin shit outta poor ol Azzy as HE is the agility hero, as HE is super squishy early and most importantly as HE will be able to dice the other team apart into nothingness if farmed.
If by any means you are playing against complete and utter retards OR by some miracle are farming and getting kills in proper games use a more agressive skill build.I dont like to dwell much on the question of builds as his skills alow his build to be very flexible but to get an idea of agressiveness-I WOULD GET 1 LEVEL OF DOPPLE WALK AND THEN FOCUS ON ALTERNATING BETWEEN LANCE AND JUXTA AS THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO GET YOUR ULTI SOMEWHERE AROUND LEVEL 7ISH

Moving on...

Item Builds

OK now the controvertial part comes..im keepin this short an simple basically Azzy bein an infinite image hero may have a VERY flexible item build...but for me i find the following build very effective in mostly every situation

CORE:

p.s-i would like to thank juddernaught for this pic

This item build is self explainatory:
You get circlets cuz u get circlets u turn them into wraiths cuz your name is AZWRAITH (on a more serious note get bracers if you have survival issues) and you get boot cuz you have sensitive feet and u get a diff cuz thats the best orb for an image hero as no other orb effects go to images and yasha cuz u can move really fast and your damage and attackspeed increase which is exactly what you need. Nothing more nothing less

Later:

If you get yasha on an image hero next best thing to ketchup is to turn it into a manta.People who wont do that need to burn in hell()
Why we dont make Phase Boots?

Phase Boots Give us:

* 30% attack speed
* +65 movement speed
* Phase Ability
* +12 damage

Reasons not to get this:

*You do not have any major dps skill like bash or critcal strike or god strength like effect to directly benefit from the attackspeed. You need the attackspeed to produce illusions and frankly speaking having just 1 illusion techincally makes your attackspeed 2X . So why waste 1.5ish k on something that you can ge by producing 1 image.
*Bot movement speed is superior.
*Phase doesnt go to your images and im pretty sure if you phase in dopplewalk you come outta invis
*+12 damage is a joke..1 illusion/2 wraith bands = same thing first is for no cost the second is 1k.

BTW GAME SHOULD END AT THIS JUNCTURE WITH YOUR PUSHING ABILITIES!

If for some strange reason or by the will of god or your teams retarded mental capacity to own even when u have a manta the gome doesnt finish treat yourself to one of these

Luxury:

The Butterfly:
This is probably the single best and most bought luxury item on ANY agility hero.It gives attackspeed damage and +30 evasion which can be converted to a very high amount of EHP. After Phantoms edge got changed into giving spell resistance instead of evasion this is the most viable luxury item on Azzy

Monkey King Bar:
Very useful item and a good substitute for a butterly.Used mainl to counter evasion heroes but gives really good stats.Although Azzy's images dont get the bonus hundred damage or the ministun.

Divine Rapier:
If and only IF your farming rice cakes and want some kick or if your positive you wont die.As it is killing Azzy late game is damn confusing

Buriza-Do-Kyanon:
Yes i know people will say "but if you get this peaple can find the real Azzy as the real one will be doing like 700-900crits so why get this?"
Well you really answered it yourself.While you do 700-900 crits your images will be doing like 200 so dont you think that the enemies will die even before they find the real one? so it doesnt matter, a thumbs up to this item.

OK IF YOUR GET THESE ITEMS YOU-ARE-A-NOOB:

Vladimir Offering's Life Steal DOES NOT go over to your images.The rest of the items in that list show your true self

Optional Items you can get in the Middle of the game:

Against casters:

For Physical Survivability:

Althought vangaurd really isnt recommended since its slows your farming like hell..even then its for the stupidly retarded ones.. its your descision really.The new heart also is a bit piss weak compared to the one before.

STRATEGY

Early Game: Now i aint gonna drag on and on..i just got 1 word for ya...SURVIVE. Atleast until you get your diffusal. The secret to survival is lane control.You can start controlling a lane by DENYING.Remember for every time you hit your opponents creep the closer to get to THEIR tower and vice-versa...So start denying and stay near your tower..wait for your opponent to make a freakin mistake.They are humans you know .And once they make a mistake capitalize by lancing em..send em back to their fountain to heal,get a kill if possible.WHile both of the effects are good, the latter being better.But seriously if your laned against people like viper, witch doctor or warlock or peaople like that SWITCH LANES IMMEDIATELY OR RISK THE GAME COMPLETELY!!! Let the pros like kuroky,merlini and loda take risks like that.And PLEASE PLEASE dont waste your dopplewalk on retarded things like sneaking up or going past them.Also if possible ask for ganks in your lane if you have co-operative teammates.
Once you get your diffusal blade which should be somewhere around level 11 even if your playing moderately, things should even out and tip the scales in your favour if your engaging one guy in combat.Remember..early game PLAY SMART.

JUST FOLLOW THE 2 GOLDEN RULES TO BEIN A LATE GAME AGILITY CARRY HERO AND YOU SHOULD BE FINE

* Kill-Steal..yes kill steal. I know most of you dont like this but trust me when your an agility carry heroes who is shit weak you gotta be selfish, you gotta get every dime and cent you can muster cuz every time to kill steal you get 200 gold closer to your target.Kill at EVERY option, whenever its available.You might get abused like crap in a pu game..but trust me....30mins into the game and your mates will be grovelling at your feet thanking you for their success.Azzy has been given a skill like lance for a reason..ok 2.Slowing is good but its meant to land the final blow early game on an enemy i.e kill steal most of the time early. So use it..KILL STEAL.

* DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN A GANK EARLY GAME!!!!!!!Atleast not ulti you get your diffusal.Cuz if you do your nothin but a invisible sack a potatoes worth a free 200G launching green beams from his mouth who is nothing more than an annoyance to the enemy. Whenever you see an enemy near you and atleast one enemey missing from the map...GTFO.If there is a gank going on around you where atleast 1 or 2 of you allies are there..wait for some time to see if you can ks if you can good, if you cant better luck next time either way dopple outta there as soon as things go outta control.

Mid Game: This is where you start glow...not shine but glow.You should have your diff blade boots and a yasha. Right now you can take on most heroes one on one, Can move in and outta combat like a shadow and launch lances like crazy.Now you can start ganking.However there are some rules:

* Do not stay in the front line..you are not the tank.
* Do not initiate..you dont have a stun (lance is hardly a initiation skill)
* Come in only when there is utter confusion in the hopes of spawing some images creating more utter confusion adn chaos i.e crowd control
* Dopple in make the real Azzy stay near the enemy or behind them so he doesnt get hit by an aoe and use the image like its the real thing so that the enemies thing your the real Azzy comin in to save the day and hopefully waste a nuke or two on it.If they do good , if not bad luck better luck next time. Either way that should be a cue for your allies to bring in the heat and go all out which brings me to the next point
* When your allies do go all out you target the final line of your opponents casters and decimate them one by one. With a diffusal and the enemy caster already on a shortage of mana you can prolly take out 2 in less than 10 seconds which should give you just about enough time to dopple out and wait in the back and see if you can ks the HI-HP heroes like doom and treant with your lance
* Go in with 1k come out with 2-2.5

Late Game: This is where you start to shine so much even you gotta wear shades . Right now you should have finished your manta and BoT and you should be on your way in completeting or already have completed a high tier game ending item like butterfly or buriza. No hero on the dota roster is a match for you one on one now ( maybe an equally farmed up mortred who knows which is the real you but its still chance based.I mean a 1-1.5k crit can screw up any agility hero).Right now you can prolly 2v1 or even 3v1 though i dont recommend it.Just Go to a lane: push, spawn 7 images in less than 2 seconds,TP to another lane, push, spawn 7 more images in less than 2 seconds and finally tp t the last lane, push, spawn 7 more images and push. Rinse-Repeat. To hero kill or mass hero kill.
1) Dopple in
2) Right click on desired food
3) right click on the next desired food
4) If you can manage right click one more
5) Dopple out
6) Laugh

MIND GAMES

OK SO TO LEARN ABOUT THE ART OF MIND GAMING I SUGGEST YOU VISITTotalnewbies ART OF MINDGAMES This is total newbie showing mind games at its best

Next off, another guide writer Juddernaught who explained the art of mind games while playing Azzy so well i decided to quote him as he did not leave out ANYTHING!!!(seriously)

Quote:

Images are your best friend: they do a lot of work for you and are expendable. They can be used for a variety of purposes:
Scouting:
The image created by Dopplewalk lasts 20 seconds, that's more than enough time for you to get to a rune or to scout the jungle. You can scout with your Juxtapose images, but each only lasts about 7 seconds. They are best used when you're jungling and want to scout out an area since you can start them running in different directions, covering lots of ground. They are also helpful during pushes because once you have killed the creep wave and you have left over images, send them in different directions (into the jungles, Rosh, behind you, ahead of you, etc). They won't survive until the next wave anyway, so you may as well put their sight to good use.

Drawing Enemy Fire:
Azwraith gets dominated by chain stuns and focus-fire due to his fairly low HP. The way to counter this is to go out of your enemies' sight (behind trees, up cliffs, around corners, out of range, etc.), Dopplewalk, and control that image like you would control yourself. If played right, enemies will fire away on that image. This is especially the case when you think they are coming to gank you as they are very eager to get a kill. I have successfully drawn Rooftrellen's mass entangle, Rexxar's roar, Lion's finger, Bane's grasp, and a bunch of stuns with my illusion. The trick is to make your enemy think it's you since they can't tell a difference. Although this may not seem like much since you're not killing anyone, you just made them waste their precious mana with (hopefully) their strongest spell. Now they are less of a threat to both you and your teammates. Plus, you can trash talk a little. Go on, you earned it.

Avoiding Spells:
In a related concept, since Dopplewalk has no transition time into invisibility, you can use it to avoid spells. Although this isn't really "using your images," one is created in the process, so I stuck this here. For example, if you have a storm bolt coming at you, activate Dopplewalk or Manta. The spell will fail and you will be unharmed. Additionally, the enemy, anticipating the stun will hit, will likely come in after you. They will attack the illusion, leaving you an opportunity to hit back.

Confusing your Enemy:
As mentioned earlier, when you cast Spirit Lance, your images mimic you but shortly afterward. Therefore, by casting the lance, you give away your position. This can be helpful however. First, make sure you can Dopplewalk. Second, cast your lance. Third, Dopplewalk. You know that "real" one your enemy was looking for? Well, he's a fake one now. You can run around searching for an opening to strike or bail if you have to.

Jungling:
Images play an important role in jungling because they allow you to tackle creeping earlier and harder. It's like having a friendly hero with you but better because they don't leach your experience. The basics are: go in and attack, creating some images, then you back out a little while your images do most of the work. Some people recommend moving on to another creep camp once you've spawned a few images, but I prefer to stay at one until it's over. Why? Well, 1) that ensures you get the experience, 2) if enemies come to gank you, you already have duplicates to confuse them, 3) if only one enemy shows up, you already have a ganking squad, 4) you can use your 7 images to scout the area after the camp is dead. What camp you can kill depends on the creep strength and your items. Once you get diffusal most of the creeps will be easy pickings but with manta and a vitality booster, creeps should be trembling in fear (except Rosh, who eats your illusions like a fat kid eats cake).

Slowing your Enemy:

WARNING: Uber-micro Required! Having a hard time catching that speedy Strygwyr or Barathrum? Spirit Lance and Diffusal Blade slow. Well, so can images. After casting Spirit Lance, your enemy is crippled for a decent slow. If you plan it right and can chase. After casting the spell, quickly tell your real hero to attack the enemy and take control of your image. Then, have your image, who runs at your speed, run in front of their hero. Use that image to block the enemy as you would your own creeps. You can catch up and initiate the beating.

IMAGES: AN IN DEPTH SURVEY OF WHAT THEY LIKE

Images will not benefit from:

* Direct bonus to damage items (i.e. items that say +x to damage do not give that bonus damage to images)
* Direct bonus to armour items (Chain mail, Platemail, etc)
* Direct regeneration items (Ring of Regen, Ring of Health, etc)
Increased Attack Speed percent (Hyper stone, Treads, Hand of Midas, Monkey King Bar, Butterfly)
Frost Attack (Eye of Skadi)
* Lifesteal (Satanic, Mask of Madness, Mask of Death, Helm of Dominator) Note: the graphic appears, but the images don't actually leach life
Chain Lightning (Maelstrom)
* Cleave - Percentage Splash Damage applied to nearby targets (Battlefury)
* Maim (Sange, Sange and Yasha)
% Chance for Microstun that disrupts concentration spells and gives bonus damage (Monkey King Bar)
Corruption effect - minus to armor upon hit (Stygnian Desolator). Images will benefit from the corruption given by your main hero
* Damage block (Stout Shield, Vanguard)
Spell items - images can't cast spells (Dagon, Guinsoo, Mechanism, Mantastyle, etc)
*Magic resistance items (Planeswalker Cloak)

Images will benefit from:

*Stat bonus items (Wraith Bands, Bracers, Null Talisman, Ultimate Orb, etc)
*Feedback (Diffusal Blade, Manta Style)
*Critical Strike (Crystalys / Buriza ) Just the critical strike ability is transferred to images not the bonus damage from the item.
*Evasion (Butterfly, Radiance)
*Raw movement speed gain items (Boots, Treads, Boots of Travel)
% Movement Speed gain items (Sange and Yasha, Yasha).
*True Sight (Gem of True Sight)
*Radiance burning aura (Radiance) - Note that while images get the burning aura only one such aura will apply to an enemy at a given time (i.e. 4 images do not mean 4xdamage from the burn aura) The bonus damage from the Radiance item itself does not transfer
*Direct Hit Point bonus items (Vitality Booster, Point Booster, Soul Booster, Heart of Tarresque, Manta Style)
*Direct Mana Point bonus items (Energy Booster, Point Booster, Soul Booster, etc)

Hmm..Im not gonna waste time stickin pics of good allies bad enemies..figure it out yourself or you wont learn a thing.Experience it yourselves and make your own mistakes and then learn from em..But i can give you some basic.

GOOD ALLIES:

* Stunners like DK, Rexxar,a good mirana or even a REALLY good techies
* Slowers like viper and drow.
* Miscl: Mini stunners like enigma and witch docter
Heroes that give you a passve boost like lycan
Barathrum and vengeful spirit

BAD ENEMIES:

* Just one kind...AOE freaks

Warlock
Leshrac
Tormented soul
Tiny
Invoker
And his worst nightmare and arch enemy:EARTHSHAKER!!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE:
*To counter a gem carrying dude gank that guy and take that gem
*To counter dust..kill the guy fast if you can..if not use the movement speed buff from your dopple to get outta there until it wears off
*TO counter people such as gondar and slardar..outfarm and outlevel them..nothing else you can do

N'aix the Lifestealer

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:43:00 +0000

Background Story:
There once was a man in Lordaeron so consumed by greed that he was beyond remorse. Eventually caught trying to steal Prince Arthas' sacred ring, he was tried and hanged. Yet his body, so corrupted by his desire to steal, rose by itself in the form of a monstrous ghoul. So came into being N'aix, his old name long forgotten: the embodiment of lust and greed, bent on stealing the life of every living creature he encounters.

Side: Scourge

Tavern: Dark Tavern

Icon Place: 1 Row 4 Column

Pros & Cons

[+] Easy Farming

[+] Damage based on enemies life

[+] Good Line Control

[+] One of the best characters 1v1

[-] Very easy to kill him in early game

[-] Nothing without items

[-] Is not the best character for teamplay

[-] Very good only in 1v1 battles

Alt+Tab Mini Guide (Forest N'aix)

Starting Gear:

Skill Build:

1.Feast

2.Open Wounds

3.Feast

4.Open Wounds

5.Feast

6.Infest

7.Feast

8.Rage

9.Rage

10.Rage

11.Infest

12.Rage

13.Open Wounds

14.Open Wounds

15.Stats

16.Infest

17-25.Stats

Ending Gear:

Alt+Tab Mini Guide (Lane N'aix)

Starting Gear:

Skill Build:

1.Open Wounds

2.Feast

3.Rage

4.Feast

5.Open Wounds

6.Infest

7.Feast

8.Feast

9.Open Wounds

10.Open Wounds

11.Infest

12.Rage

13.Rage

14.Rage

15.Stats

16.Infest

17-25.Stats

Ending Gear:

Base stats

25 + 2.4/lvl

18 + 1.9/lvl

15 + 1.75/lvl

Basic Damage: 52-62

Basic Armor: 1.6

Hitpoints: 625

Mana: 195

Skills:

Rage (Hotkey R)

N'aix goes into a maddened rage, becoming immune to magic spells and gaining increased attack speed.

Level 1: +30% to attack speed and magic immunity. Duration: 2.5 seconds.

Level 2: +45% to attack speed and magic immunity. Duration: 3.25 seconds.

Level 3: +60% to attack speed and magic immunity. Duration: 4 seconds.

Level 4: +80% to attack speed and magic immunity. Duration: 4.75 seconds.

Manacost: 75

Cooldown: 15

Duration: Based on skill level.

Notes:

- Activating Rage will cancel out most debuffs.

- Bash from a meele heroes will affect you, but not from ranged.

- You will not take damage from Blademail.

- Mekansm will not heal you.

- Attack speed will stack with other items.

- Doesnt cancel Repel.

- Will not cancel Rupture, but will cancel damage done by this spell for Rage period.

Spells that go trough Rage:

- Doom

- Fiend's Grip (No damage)

- Sanity's Eclipse (No damage)

- Nether Swap

- Omnislash

- Landmines

- Wild Axes

- Toss

- Counter Helix

- Haunt

- Global Silence

- Culling Blade

- Charge of Darkness

- Viper Strike (Slows only)

- Primal Roar (Slows only) (Stuns if you are primary target)

- Reapers Scythe (Stuns only)

- Reverse Polarity (Stuns only)

- Dismember (Stuns Only)

- Rot (Slow only)

- Pit of Malice

- Overgrowth

- All passive auras

Comment: This skill wil help us to kill heavy nukers like Lina or Demonwitch. Also you can use this skill before using Scroll of Town portal, so no one can interrupt your cast. Also this skill can be used when you are running from someone.

Feast (Passive)

Regenerates a portion of an enemy's current HP and deals the same portion per attack.

Level 1: 4% of victims current health.

Level 2: 5% of victims current health.

Level 3: 6% of victims current health.

Level 4: 7% of victims current health.

Manacost: None

Cooldown: None

Duration: None

Notes:

- Damage is physical. Its will be reduced by armor.

- Doesnt work on Roshan.

- Doesnt work on illusions.

- Works against magic immunes.

Comment: This skill adds very nice damage to N'aix attacks. Also this skill makes us dangerous to most tanks like Centaur Warchief.

Open Wounds (Hotkey W)

N'aix rends the enemy, slowing his movespeed and allowing his allies to feast on his life force, regenerating a portion of the damage dealt. The victim slowly recovers movement speed over 8 seconds.

Level 1: 10% lifesteal to any attacking unit. Cooldown: 24

Level 2: 15% lifesteal to any attacking unit. Cooldown: 20

Level 3: 20% lifesteal to any attacking unit. Cooldown: 16

Level 4: 25% lifesteal to any attacking unit. Cooldown: 12

Manacost: 110

Cooldown: Based on skill level.

Duration: 8

Notes:

- After casting this spell, slow rating is hight, but victim will recover normal speed after 8 seconds. Slow rating: 80% / 70% / 60% / 50% / 30% / 10% / 10% / 10%

- Cancels channeling spells

- Life steal will be added to any damage, including magical.

- Linken Sphere will block channeling cancel, but not the slow.

Comment: N'aix can gang anyone with this spell. Adds very big lifesteal to our attacks, and it stacks with Feast. Also you can use this spell to prevent casting of channeling spells, or for escaping from someone.

Infest (Hotkey T)

Level 1: Can Infest allied and neutral units. After consuming will be healed for current hitpoints of consumed unit. Cooldown: 100

Level 2: Can Infest allied, neutral and enemy units. After consuming will be healed for current hitpoints of consumed unit. Cooldown: 60

Level 3: Can Infest allied, neutral and enemy units. After consuming will be healed for maximum hitpoints of consumed unit. Cooldown: 30

Manacost: 50

Cooldown: Based on skill level.

Duration: Until consuming.

Notes:

- No one can see N'aix on the map.

- N'aix will get experience in Infested unit.

- If the Infested unit is killed before N'aix uses Consume, he will not be healed.

- Auras of N'aix will affect all units around Infested unit, except Radiance.

- All buffs and regeneration stops, until N'aix consumes unit.

- Enemies dont see green orb on top of Infested unit.

- You will be immune for spells like Wrath of the Thundergod or Haunt

Creeps that cannot be Infested:

- Catapults of Sentinel and Scourge.

- Neutral units of type "Tree"

- Roshan

- Dominated Creeps

- Illusions

- Infernal (Summoned by Warlock)

- Pandaren Elementals (Summoned by Pandaren Brewmaster)

- Spirit Bear (Summoned by Lone Druid)

- Healing Ward (Summoned by Juggernaut)

Comment: This is very expensive skill. It can be used for ganging, for hiding from enemies or for healing.

Game Strategy&Item Builds

Forest N'aix

Forest N'aix.
This strategy is possible only in game 5v5 or 4v4. N'aix can very easy farm in woods because he has Feast skill, what gives very nice lifesteal to him.
Base Items:

FAQ:

Q: Why i should buy Healing Salve?

A: It is not essential, but if your command need help, and you have low hitpoints, it will instantly heal you, and you will not waste your time.

Comment: After buying this dont go on the creep spot, because creeps will not be spawned if you staying on it. Wait before all neutral creeps will be spawned, then go to the forest.

Skill Build:

1.Feast

2.Open Wounds

3.Feast

4.Open Wounds

5.Feast

6.Infest

7.Feast

8.Rage

9.Rage

10.Rage

11.Infest

12.Rage

13.Open Wounds

14.Open Wounds

15.Stats

16.Infest

17-25.Stats

FAQ:

Q:Why we will take Feast on 1 level?

A:Feast on 1 level allows us to farm easy in forest.

Q:Why we will take Rage only on level 8?

A:Because you will farm only in forest before you get level 8, and on level 8 you should go to the lane and start teamplay.

Q:Why Infest on level 6?

A:Allows us to farm in forest without any problems, because we can get great heal from level 5 monsters.

When you are farmed enough and get 8 level, go to the town, sell your Quelling Blade and Stout Shield.

Your inventory should look like this:

Comment: Buying Blades of Attack is not essential. If you havent much gold, go to the forest and farm some more. Also you need to farm 500 gold for Gloves of Haste.

After farming your inventory should look like this:

Then you must to start ganging and teamplay. Try to stalking someone in the woods or kill lone hero by using Open Wounds skill. Or you should push one line. After doing it and getting about 900 gold go to the town and buy Armlet of Mordiggian receipt.

Your inventory should look like this:

Now you can play with your team and gang your enemies by using Open Wounds skill. Also dont forget about stalking in the woods, and last hitting. Also you shoud try to gang your enemies who stands on lane by using Infest skill on the allied Treant or Ghoul.

Comment: Dont forget about activating Armlet of Mordiggian before battle/gang starts. It gives hitpoints boost to you, but drains hitpoints overtime. So you must try to hit your enemy so many times as you can, and you will be healed by Feast skill, and it will prevent losing your hitpoints.
And dont forget to deactivate it after ending of battle/gang.

After this you should farm about 2000 gold.
Go to the town and buy Kelen's Dagger.
Your inventory should look like this:

Now you can instantly gang your enemies, or do a last hit. Playing with team will bring to you many frags&gold. Next item ill be Stygian Desolator. It will add good damage to us. Also -Armor=>More Damage done by Feast=>More life steal.
After getting Stygian Desolator you should get Assault Cuirass. More -Armor=>More damage&lifesteal.

Your inventory finally should look like this:

Comment: Last item slot for your choise. You can read "Last Slot Suggesions" section for more info.

Lane N'aix

Lane N'aix.
Standard strategy used in all games. Taking Feast on 2 level and early Rage allows to stay and farm on lane for a long time.
Base Items:

FAQ:

Q: Why i should buy 3x Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, when i can make Bracer?

A: Because we dont need +3 to Agility and Intelligence, and +9 Strength will be better then +6 to Strength and +3 to Agility and Intelligence.

Q: Why do i need Ancient Tango of Essifation if i will take Feast on 1 level?

A: Because you must take Open Wounds on 1 level, and Feast will not freeze your hitpoints on 100%.

Comment: Best lane for N'aix is solo Middle lane. If other player already stands solo then you should go Down (if you are Sentinel) and Up (if you are Scourge).

Skill Build:

1.Open Wounds

2.Feast

3.Rage

4.Feast

5.Open Wounds

6.Infest

7.Feast

8.Feast

9.Open Wounds

10.Open Wounds

11.Infest

12.Rage

13.Rage

14.Rage

15.Stats

16.Infest

17-25.Stats

FAQ:

Q: Why should i pick Open Wounds on first level?

A: Because it can help you to run from someone, kill someone if he goes near tower, or if you want to kill Axe.

Q: Why should i pick Rage so early?

A: Because it can save you from hard nukes, and prevent some skills like Cold Feet.

After few lining you should go to the town and create Power Treads.
If you have hard nukers in command, like Lina, Demon Witch and others, try to gang someone using Open Wounds and their abilities. After farming/ganging on lanes you should start to create Armlet of Mordiggian.

Your inventory should look like this:

Then you should go on lane or in the forest and farm for Gloves of Haste. Also dont forget to help to your team and also try to gang someone. Also you can stalk in the Sentinel Woods (if you are Scourge) or in Scourge Woods (if you are Sentinel).

After few farming/stalking/ganging you shoud sell one of your Gauntlets of Ogre Strength and buy Gloves of Haste.
Now its time for pushing lane and ganging. Use your Rage in gangs and cast Open Wounds on running heroes, and also cast Open Wounds to prevent casting of chanelling spells.

After some time, you must create Armlet of Mordiggian.
Your inventory should look like this:

Comment: Dont forget about activating Armlet of Mordiggian before battle/gang starts. It gives hitpoints boost to you, but drains hitpoints overtime. So you must try to hit your enemy so many times as you can, and you will be healed by Feast skill, and it will prevent losing your hitpoints.
And dont forget to deactivate it after ending of battle/gang.

Now you can play with your team and gang your enemies by using Open Wounds skill. Also dont forget about stalking in the woods, and last hitting. Also you shoud try to gang your enemies who stands on line by using Infest skill on the allied Treant or Ghoul.

After 5-8 minutes sell your Gauntlets of Ogre Strength.
After few farming you should have about 2000 gold.
Go to the town and buy Kelen's Dagger. Your inventory should look like this:

Now you can instantly gang your enemies, or do a last hit. Playing with team will bring to you many frags&gold. Next item ill be Stygian Desolator. It will add good damage to us. Also -Armor=>More Damage done by Feast=>More life steal.

After getting Stygian Desolator you should get Assault Cuirass. More -Armor=>More damage&lifesteal.

Your inventory finally should look like this:

Comment: Last item slot for your choise. You can read "Last Slot Suggesions" section for more info.

Last Slot Item Suggesions:
My suggesion:
Illusions will have Feast skill, also 3x N'aix better then one.

Draxtrul16's sugession:
Adds nice damage, allows us to farm easy. You can create it before Armlet.

Allies and Enemies
Allies:

This heroes dont need very good items to gang someone.

Ancient Apparition: If you use Open Wounds he can use Cold Feet and freeze enemy.

Crystal Maiden: If you use Open Wounds she can use Freezing Field.

He can cast Shadow Word on you or enemy, or do much damage by Fatal Bounds. His Infernal has stun when falling and haves good damage.

He is the best. He can heal you by Shadow Wave, slow your opponents by Poison Touch, save your live by Shallow Grave, and seriously decrease armor to your opponents by Weave. When opponents armor decreased, Feast will do more damage, and N'aix will regenerate more life per hit.

Can cast Replicate. Our illusion will have Feast skill.

Enemies:

Early game enemies

They can do much damage to you in early game, but in late game you will kill them without problems.

Rage will not block his ultimate Sanity's Eclipse. He can cast Astral Prison on himself, wait before your rage ends, then use Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse, and kill you by Arcane Orb what deals 250+ damage.

Rage will not block Omnislash. And 10+ hits with criticals about 700 damage is deadly for us.

Dark Seer: Can cast Wall of Replica. Our illusion will have Feast skill.

Morphling: Can cast Replicate. Our illusion will have Feast skill.

Naix Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:30:00 +0000

This Strategy is Reaper666's entry for Dota Strategy's contest, hope you enjoy it. N'aix is a killing machine, and my favorite hero, This is my first strategy, and hopefully, with this guide, I'll show you how to destroy everyone and survive possibly with 100% hp left, Some people think this is a weak hero, some think he's strong, I say, its all about the tactics, he's extremely strong, but only if used right, and is probably why some people say he's weak, they cant figure out how to play him right, read this and not only will you be godlike but most enemies wont be able to get away. prepare to be hated by your enemies and making Ursa warriors and Centaurs scream and run at the sight of you.

N`aix - The Lifestealer

Rage (R)

Naix goes into a maddened rage, becoming immune to magic spells and gaining increased attack speed.

Level 1 - 30% Increased Attack Speed and Magic Immunity. Lasts for 2.5 seconds.

Level 2 - 45% Increased Attack Speed and Magic Immunity. Lasts for 3.25 seconds.

Level 3 - 60% Increased Attack Speed and Magic Immunity. Lasts for 4 seconds.

Level 4 - 80% Increased Attack Speed and Magic Immunity. Lasts for 4.75 seconds.

Mana Cost: 75

Cooldown: 15

Comment: A multifunction skill, at level 4 (of the skill not the hero) usually when you press this your hp will start going up as the enemy's hp will drop rapidly which will cause him to run which will cause you to Open wound him and laugh, more uses will be discussed further on.

Feast (F)

Regenerates a portion of enemy's current HP and deals the same portion per attack.

Level 1 - 4%

Level 2 - 5%

Level 3 - 6%

Level 4 - 7%

• Does not work on Roshan.

• Works against magic immune units.

• The heal is independent of the damage.

Mana Cost: N/A

Cooldown: N/A

Comment: Your insane lane staying, hero destroying skill, this is the reason people will stay away from you, and why you dont need too much hp at the beginning even tho you will have a nice amount probably.THEORETICAL example for those of you who don't get it: You have 1000hp centaur has 2000hp, you hit you deal 7% of his hp now he's at 93% and 1860hp, you did 140dmg and heal for 140 which is 14% of your hp!!! and is why i said your hp doesnt matter that much 1on1 atleast.. this is THEORETICAL armor etc will affect the outcome of the fight ofcoures.

Open Wounds (W)

N'aix rends the enemy, slowing his movespeed and allowing his allies to feast on his life force, regenerating a portion of the damage dealt. The victim slowly recovers movement speed over 8 seconds.

Level 1 - 10%

Level 2 - 15%

Level 3 - 20%

Level 4 - 25%

Casting no longer causes Naix to loose attack focus.

Mana Cost: 110

Cooldown: 24/20/16/12

Comment: Another multifunction skill, this thing is for Chasing, escaping and helping allies, Insane too, this skill can make you win starting with 30% hp vs 100% hp enemy. altho it wont be enough to chase lots of the times, but we'll fix that.

Infest (T)

The Lifestealer tears its way into the unfortunate body of a target unit, laying dormant and undetectable inside its living frame until he is ready to consume it and come to form. Regains health from the infested unit.

Level 1 - Allied and Neutral units. Consumes current health.

Level 2 - Allied, Enemy and Neutral units. Consumes current health.

Level 3 - Allied, Enemy and Neutral units. Consumes max health.

Mana Cost: 50

Cooldown: 100/60/30 seconds

Comment: The enemy will hate you if they actually hurt you and you escape and come back 30secs later with 100% hp and only 50mana less cause you found a nice little centaur at the jungle , not to mention when they are about to kill you and you disappear into one of their monsters leaving them confused and then pop out of nowhere healed and kill them, this skill is great, its for healing, instant killing of Dominated creatures or neutrals or creeps, and can be used to surprise or move across the map without getting hurt, ill explain later on.

Skill Build:

1. Feast

2. Open Wounds

3. Feast

4. Rage

5. Feast

6. Rage

7. Feast

8. Rage

9. Rage

10. Infest

11. Infest

12. Open Wounds

13. Open Wounds

14. Open Wounds

15. Stats

16. Infest

17. Stats

18. Stats

19. Stats

20. Stats

21. Stats

22. Stats

23. Stats

24. Stats

25. Stats

Item Build:

Ring of Regeneration (350)

2 HP Regeneration

Your Feast skill will be enough only if you dont get harrased + you'll need this for Vlad's.

Animal Courier (170)

Active: Summon Animal Courier

Creates an Animal Courier to carry items. 5 manacost.

Note: 1 charge.

Hopefully you don't need to go back to the fountain for health issues thanks to the Ring and Feast, and if thats the case this is great for obvious reasons, he gets the items to you., if you prefer a Bracer and Tangos that's your choise.

Mask of Death (900)

Passive: Lifesteal

10% lifesteal on attacks. Orb effect.

Second item to get for Vlad's, important cause Feast does 7% of CURRENT enemy's hp which means the less he has the less you steal.

4. Vladmir`s Offering

Complete this item asap, first base item, Armor, regen, mana regen and most importantly Lifesteal that's not orb, Feast wont do as explained in Mask of Death's description.

Boots of Speed (500)

55 Movement Speed

Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Boots of Travel, Phase Boots, Power Treads, or Boots of Speed.

This item will turn to Powertreads, get this core item second for you'll need it to escape and to chase.

Power Treads (1450)

60 Movement Speed

25 Attack Speed

8 Selected Attribute

Active: Switch Attribute

Switches the attribute that receives a bonus. From Strength to Intelligence, Intelligence to Agility, and Agility to Strength.

Note: Can only carry one. Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Boots of Travel, Phase Boots, Power Treads, or Boots of Speed.

Boots of Speed + Gloves of Haste + Boots of Elvenskin or Robe of the Magi or Belt of Giant Strength

Complete this core item second, very important for this build, for the simple fact we depend, especially at the beginning on lifestealing and later on stunning and maim procs to chase and get the kill, and no, Open Wounds wont do, atleast not vs everyone, if you choose BoT for the active and extra speed thats your choise.

Armlet of Mordiggian (2200)

9 Damage

15% Attack Speed

5 Armor

5 HP Regeneration

Active: Unholy Strength

Add 31 damage, 10 attack speed, and 25 strength while active. Drains 37 HP per second. Activating has a 5 second cooldown. You can't die from the 35 HP loss per second, nor from the health loss when deactivating.

Note: Can only carry one.

Helm of Iron Will + Gloves of Haste + Blades of Attack + Armlet of Mordiggian Recipe Scroll

Naix's toy, this item is INSANE, It's like they made it for Nai'x, you click and get 25str, 25% attack speed, 5armor and 30dmg/s to self which wont matter since you steal so much hp. Perfect, get it!

Yasha (2150)

16 Agility

15 Attack Speed

10% Movement Speed

Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Yasha, Sange and Yasha, or Manta Style.

Blade of Alacrity + Boots of Elvenskin + Yasha Recipe Scroll

This is what I get next, for Movement speed and attack speed, your hp now should be enough so you dont need Sange so much, but you do need to stun alot with Cranium, this will help, If you choose to get Cranium first, so be it.

Cranium Basher (3100)

40 Damage

6 Strength

Passive: Bash

25% chance for melee heroes (10% for ranged) to bash on attack. 1.4 seconds stun. 2 seconds cooldown. Doesn't function with other Cranium Bashers, Troll Warlord's Bash, Slithereen Guard's Bash, or Faceless Void's Time Lock.

Belt of Giant Strength + Javelin + Cranium Basher Recipe Scroll

That's it, you're a killing machine now, they cant hide and they cant run, click Rage and watch them drop.

10. Sange and

Yasha (2150)

16 Agility

15 Attack Speed

10% Movement Speed

Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Yasha, Sange and Yasha, or Manta Style.

Blade of Alacrity + Boots of Elvenskin + Yasha Recipe Scroll

Complete this to turn into a even more of a killing machine, no one, and I mean no one, not even ursa will attemp to jump you alone, most likely they will run when they see you cause there's nothing that can stop you from chasing them.

11.

Black King Bar (3900)

10 Strength

24 Damage

Active: Avatar

Gives magic immunity. Duration and cooldown decrease each time it is used. Lasts 10/9/8/7/6/5 seconds. 80/75/70/65/60/55 seconds cooldown.

Ogre Axe + Mithril Hammer + Black King Bar Recipe Scroll

This is the item that'll make NO ONE able to touch you, atleast not 1on1 and thanks to this even 2-3 wont be able to help their friend, you're godlike now, with this Nothing can stop you from beating the crap out of anyone.

Early Game:

Pros:

A very strong 1on1 hero, Best if you ask me.
Gains a good 2.4str per level.
One of the fastest Base AS.
Great at all stages of the game.
Stealthy, it's hard to spot this guy till it's too late.
Very high survivability if used right.
Can surprise or disappear using his Ultimate.
Can become godlike and hated if used right.

Cons:

Easy to kill from afar, in other words needs to be able to fight back to stay alive.
Not good at lane control (fixed by Vlad's) no AoE's at all.
Depends on his mana alot and doesn't have alot of it, Mana burn is deadly on him.
Timing his abilities is crucial and can be easily countered by silence/disable/stun to get away from him, Rage is 4.75secs timing is everything.
Surprising the enemy is very important, attack when he least expects it or you'll become the prey, atleast early-mid.
Target of harasses and can die very fast if not careful, no escape spell untill 6 (10 with this build) which also isnt really an escape it depends on your mana and if you have someone closeby to infest.

Use him smart and you'll own the game, making even Ursa 1on1 run in screams when he sees you, not true until atleast mid game tho so careful.

Starting Items:

If you're not facing nukers that can kill you this should do+Ring will be used to make Vlad's.

For the extra HP, I prefer Ring for the long-term durability and knowing ill use it for Vlad's + Courier so I don't have to run to buy stuff, but this might be a even better idea alot of the times, your choice.

If you're in a game with less than 5 per side, you can also buy combinations like:

Just examples of decent items you can use.

Choosing a Lane:

Personally I prefer Upper or Lower for two reasons:

1) Got a nearby shop for Death Mask.

2) Only have to watch out from one side not two like when you're at the middle.

Lane Partner:

Best partners obviously will be any hero that can stun / disable, you don't want the enemy to get away, your damage is great at all stages thanks to Feast, but if you can't get close it's worth nothing, also if you're facing a good lane controller you might wanna get a partner unless he's not good enough at it to damage the tower too badly, although him getting close to your tower could work for your favor, i'll explain further on in Tactics section.

Lane Enemy:

1 Ranged - Don't get too close, you're fragile, and you have no escape tool, if he gets reckless and gets over confident and close to your tower, don't be afraid to attack him, ranged heroes wont last long 1on1 vs you, don't attack unless you're certain you can win cause running away from ranged will be hard, and you don't have Infest yet probably.

2 Ranged - Get a lane partner, you're fragile and it's you don't pay attention for 1 second or just don't judge the distance well enough, and they jump you, they will be all over you and will kill you easily.

1 Melee - Shouldn't be a problem, last hit as much as possible but if it's a stunner, be alittle more careful, still shouldn't be a problem tho, even hit him from time to time if you have the creeps as advantage, Feast will hurt even early game.

2 Melee - If none of them are stunners or teleporters (blink etc), don't worry too much but be on your guard, you're fragile and try not to get too close or they will jump you, in certain cases you can actually beat them both tho, if you have the right item's and they are the right heroes, always be ready to escape tho.

Always be on your guard no matter who you're facing, 1 Melee won't do anything you can take him 1on1 unless its Ursa early, but then again you never know who's lurking behind the corner.

Hero killing tactics:

The element of surprise - You can't imagine how important this is, here's a scenario, the enemy hero is pushing and pushing towards your tower, and there most of his creeps die and he stays there for 3secs too long which you use to Open wound him and Rage just as his last creep dies, you and all your creeps attack him, there's a good possibility he will die if he's a Int hero or Agi, but even if he doesn't, you can count on it that his hp will be very low. This tactic works try it, ofcoures you can do it in many ways, from the side, rushing, and ofcoures Infest if you're experienced, can be deadly especially if you get into a Dominated creep they keep close, also, even if you're at 50% hp or so most of the heroes you'll be able to bring down, thats the beauty of it, you pop out of their creep while they are all alone and beat the crap out of them, they wont know what happened till it's too late, its all about the timing.
Timing of skills - Don't be reckless, 15secs if along cooldown when it takes you 5secs to bring someone to 30% hp and making him escape.. don't use rage as the battle begins unless you know you'll need it to survive, in which case you probably wont win cause if you need it at the beginning to survive what will happen after the 4.75secs? especially late game when you need it to proc stun alot so they wont get away. also timing your open wounds is very important, do it the second you realise there's no other way to catch them, if you know that they are faster use it the second they turn, if you're faster use it to finish them off, or if you're low on hp and need it to survive, use your brain and you'll come on top possibly with 100% hp and a smile.
Don't be reckless - Never ever be reckless, as much as you're strong 1on1 its enough that 1nuker or 1disabler comes and casts 1 little spell on you to turn the battle around, always watch out for additional enemies that might just jump in, especially when they already know you're strong which will make them call for help instantly as they spot you, you're best 1on1, you can assassinate just about anyone but they will learn from mistakes so never be off your guard.
THINK - Best tip I can give you is to think before you make a move or it could turn into your funereal instead of their's.. Is it worth the risk? Can I finish him off or not? Is it worth the risk to chase him? Will i be able to escape if another one comes? Will he die if I cast it now? will I? Should I pop out of the creep now or in 10seconds, just Think before you act, and this is true for all of the heroes, when it comes down to it, it's all about the tactics.
Jump on Opportunities - If you see a good opportunity to jump a hero, even if you don't finish him off, it was worth a try, just don't die, below is an example of a good opportunity I took and it paid off, Note - Slithereen guard is a good partner, very good.

Its hard to see but he did use his ultimate on her, and you can see him on the 2nd picture.

Items you Should Have:

Hopefully you have atleast those or more, Next what you should get is Powertreads ofcoures.

DotA 6.69 Quest Guide | Dota 6.69 Secret, Hidden Quest and Easter Egg

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:28:00 +0000

Dota 6.69 Quest, Secret, Hidden Quest and Easter Egg. DotA 6.69 contain a hidden secret which will allow you to fight Icarus the Phoenix. To fight him, you must destroy the PreRune, the Red Runes and then kill all the IceFrogs on the map.

OK, let's start with the PreRune:

After you destroyed, 2 Red Runes will appear on the map.

Continue with the first Red Rune:

After destroy the first Red Rune, 5 IceFrog on the Scourge area will appear. But this time we will go with the second Red Rune first:

After that, you can start killing the IceFrog on the Sentinel area. Let's start hunting! You will need Gem of Truesight (IceFrog is invisible) and Dagon (IceFrog can only be killed with magic damage) before start the hunt.

The above is the example of the IceFrog. It's very tiny and nearly transparent (after the Gem of Truesight). Enable the health bar to make them easier to see. Check out the map below for all the location of the IceFrog:

IceFrog#1 - Near top rune (power up/normal rune) spot on the hill to the hidden shop direction.

IceFrog#2 - Near the Prerune.

IceFrog#3 - Scourge bottom lane. At the spawn point of creeps a bit to the left.

IceFrog#4 - Near the Scourge low level Neutral creeps are.

IceFrog #5 - On the top Scourge camp, near the trees.

IceFrog#6 - Near the spawn point of Sentinel bottom lane. Next to the sea/waterfall.

IceFrog#7 - On the Sentinel's base, on the bottom of the the Hunter's Hall, among the trees.

IceFrog#8 - On the Sentinels middle lane middle leveled Neutral creeps spot. Behind the statue.

IceFrog#9 - Its behind the creeps near the #8.

IceFrog #10 - Near the Sentinel Neutral creeps spot on the bottom lane which nearest to the enemy tower.

After killed all the IceFrogs, suddenly you will be killed and a message appear: "Player has been killed by Phoenix". Well done, if that message appear, the Phoenix is already appear on the boss spot on the top left bottom of the map.

He's waiting for you, prepare yourself before go to the battle!

As you can see, he got 20,000 HP and very fast regeneration. Leave him for couple seconds and his health will be full again.

It's his skill, summon a Super Nova. When the Super Nova is falling, all units will be stunned (global) for about 10 seconds. Very annoying..

After you killed him, he will transform into an egg. Too bad i didn't manage to capture the picture of Phoenix on Egg form, because i thought i already won -_-;; Yes, we're not win yet people, in fact, the trouble start here.

Please welcome the Phoenix Reborn!

Honestly, i don't know how much HP he has, because the health bar won't budge no matter how many time i attack him :( I use "whosyourdaddy" cheat (which usually give you one hit kill) but i still need about 5 hits before i can actually kill the fire bird. After you defeated him, you will got 5 Ancient Medallion.

Ancient Medallion gives you +75 all stats, 9 illusions (active), 3x critical and some evasions. Nice! You deserve it after defeated such a nasty boss.

Well, that's the end. So, do you satisfied? Share this guide with the other and let them know how scary is the Phoenix ;)

Dota Changelogs Map 6.69

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:27:00 +0000

Download v6.69 from here:
Download from rmediafire
Download from rapidshare

This patch is focused primarily on balance improvements. Rather than wait until more content is finished for one bigger patch, I've decided to release a smaller patch first for general gameplay improvements while working on content for next patch. Let me know what you guys think and as always feel free to email me any requests.

Alchemist
- Unstable Concoction stun duration rescaled from 2.5/3/3.5/4 to 1.75/2.5/3.25/4
- Added an AoE effect indicator for the Alchemist player while he is charging his Unstable Concoction

Axe
- Battle Hunger slow increased to 10%
- Cooldown on Aghanim's Culling Blade reduced from 15 to 10 seconds

Bane Elemental
- Brainsap damage rebalanced from 75/150/225/300 to 90/160/230/300
- Enfeeble damage rebalanced from 30/60/90/120% to 40/60/80/100% (above 100% didn't work properly)
- Added -disablehelp for Nightmare, to stop direct casting on allies (3123839)
- Nightmare fixed so it properly stops enemy potions (3123839)

Batrider
- Fixed a bug with Sticky Napalm overhead text (+1, +2, etc) that was recently added from being visible to the enemy

Beastmaster
- Hawk's HP reduced from 100/200 to 50/100
- Invisibility on Hawk reworked. It now fades out automatically whenever it hasn't moved for 8 seconds.

Bone Fletcher
- Death Pact attack damage rebalanced from 6/7/8% to 4/6/8% of targets HP

Bounty Hunter
- Jinada critical strike increased from 1.4/1.6/1.8/2.0 to 1.5/1.75/2/2.25
- Track cast range increased from 750/950/1150 to 900/1050/1200

Broodmother
- Increased XP given for killing Broodmother's Spiderlings

Clockwerk
- Movement speed increased from 310 to 315

Crystal Maiden
- Crystal Nova slow duration reduced from 5 to 3.5/4/4.5/5 seconds.
- Crystal Nova damage increased from 80/130/180/230 to 100/150/200/250.

Dazzle
- Shallow Grave now has a duration indicator for allies

Dirge
- Fixed over-sized click boundaries for Tombstone

Doom Bringer
- Base armor reduced by 2
- Doom cast range reduced from 650 to 550

Enchantress
- Aghanim's Scepter added to Enchantress (Increases her attack and Impetus range by 150)

Enigma
- Eidolons HP reduced from 200/225/225/275 to 180/200/220/240

Faceless Void
-Strength growth increased from 1.4 to 1.6

Furion
- Wrath of Nature (Aghanim's version) max chain increased from 12/14/16 to 14/16/18
- Force of Nature Treants can now attack air units (275356)
- Sprout code improved to reduce the chances of heroes sometimes popping out of it
- Sprout targeting change from 6.67 removed
- Wrath of Nature can now be cast through the minimap and it will select the closest unit as the initial target (275356)

Gyrocopter
- Homing Missile now adds an ally only visual effect on targeted enemies
- Homing Missile cast range increased by 150
- Homing Missile cooldown from 20/18/16/14 to 20/17/14/11
- Rocket Barrage damage improved from 10/12/14/16 to 10/13/16/19

Huskar
- Berserker's Blood attack speed bonus increased from 2/4/6/8 to 3/6/9/12

Invoker
- Invoker now gains attribute points for each orb he levels

Jakiro
- Increased Macropyre (Aghanim's version) travel distance

Juggernaut
- Omnislash no longer wastes a strike by considering banished units in its search

Keeper of the Light
- Recall is now targetable through the minimap

Lone Druid
- Leash range increased to 1100
- True Form movement speed from 270 to 280
- The "-ms" command now shows the movement speed of your Spirit Bear as well (298418)
- Spirit Bear attack point improved
- Fixed common scenarios where Spirit Bear would miss its attack as the target was moving
- Casting Summon Spirit Bear while the bear is still alive will restore that bear's health instead of not allowing you to cast.

Leoric
- Hellfire Blast damage redistributed to some on impact and some dps (312517)
- Scoreboard now displays Skeleton King's ultimate cooldown time
- Skeleton King will be automatically selected for you after he reincarnates

Leshrac
- Pulse Nova AoE increased from 300/350/400 to a constant 400

Lina Inverse
- Laguna Blade (Aghanim's version) damage increased from 600/875/1150 to 600/925/1250

Luna
- Eclipse (Aghanim's version) target limit increased from 5 to 6
- Strength growth increased from 1.75 to 1.9
- Movement speed increased from 320 to 330

Lycanthrope
- Shapeshift duration increased from 14/15/16 to a constant 18 seconds

Meepo
- Strength gain increased from 1.3 to 1.6
- Improved Geomancer's base damage by 5
- Fixed some targeting issues with casting poof (300996)

Magnataur
- Skewer damage rescaled to 70/140/210/280

Morphling
- Adaptive Strike damage type changed from Physical to Magical (248693)
- Replicate cannot target Morphling's own illusions anymore

Necrolyte
- Attack range reduced from 600 to 550

Pandarean Brewmaster
- Cooldown on the Boulder ability on Primal Split's Earth Panda decreased from 10 to 7 seconds

Phantom Assassin
- Base Strength increased from 17 to 20
- Strength growth decreased from 2.05 to 1.85
- Phantom Strike cooldown from 30/20/10/5 to 20/15/10/5

Phantom Lancer
- Strength growth reduced from 2.0 to 1.7

Pit Lord
- Dark Rift AoE increased from 375 to 450

Priestess of the Moon
- Leap cooldown improved from 40/35/30/20 to 30/26/22/18

Queen of Pain
- Sonic Wave (Agahnim's version) cooldown improved from 120/100/80 to 100/70/40
- Shadow Strike cooldown rescaled from 20/17/14/11 to 20/16/12/8

Razor
- Static Link drains damage over 8 seconds instead of 10.
- Static Link damage per second rescaled from 5/10/15/20 to 7/14/21/28
- Plasma Field cooldown from 16 to 14

Sand King
- Epicenter (Aghanim's version) now gives one more pulse
- Fixed some lag with Epicenter
- Fixed a bug with Sand Storm if you recast it very quickly while still invisible

Shadow Fiend
- Added a new command (-souls) to see the number of souls you have collected

Slark
- Decreased base Agility from 21 to 15 and increased starting damage by the same amount
- Pounce damage rescaled from 50/75/100/125 to 40/80/120/160
- Dark Pact cooldown reduced from 10 to 10/9/8/7

Spirit Breaker
- Greater Bash no longer messes up the target's command
- Nether Strike mana cost from 200/250/300 to 125/150/175
- Nether Strike (Aghanim's version) now Greater Bashes everyone in 250 area around you when you teleport to the primary target (306008)

Storm Spirit
- Intelligence base and growth reduced from 26 + 2.6 to 23 + 2.2
- Electric Vortex mana cost increased from 100 to 100/110/120/130

Techies
- Base damage increased by 5
- Remote Mine autoselection removed
- Remote Mines cast time reduced from 2 to 1.5 seconds
- Added a new sub ability Focused Detonate that you can use on the minimap or in an area to detonate all nearby remote mines (AoE of 700) (297625)

Tinker
- Laser's miss mechanic reworked.

Tiny
- War Club hit count and AoE increased

Terrorblade
- Base Intelligence increased from 15 to 19
- Fixed melee/range item to update properly for Metamorphosis transformation
- Fixed Manta Style interaction with Metamorphosis (so he can use it properly now)

Thrall
- Static Storm cooldown increased from 60 to 75

Troll Warlord
- Battle Trance self duration increased from 8 to 10 seconds
- Fixed melee/range item to update properly for Berserker Rage transformation

Vengeful Spirit
- Magic Missile stun duration rescaled from 1.75 to 1.45/1.55/1.65/1.75

Venomancer
- Plague Ward's bounty increased from 3-9 to 14-17

Viper
- Viper Strike (Aghanim's version) mana cost reduced from 125/175/250 to 125

Guardian Wisp
- Tether Stun duration reduced from 1.25/1.5/1.75/2.0 to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75
- Relocate cooldown increased from 80/60/40 to 90/75/60

Warlock
- Increased Infernal movement speed from 320/330/340 to 320/340/360
- Immolation from multiple Infernals now stack (281065)

Wind Runner
- Night vision reduced to that of normal heroes (1200->800)
- Shackleshot's search angle reduced from 30 to 26 degrees

Witch Doctor
- Casks first bounce no longer stuns for additional duration, it now lasts the same as all the bounces
- Voodoo Restoration mana cost per second from 6/9/12/15 to 8/14/20/26

Animal Courier
- Automatically upgraded to Flying Courier when you put the recipe on it (148581)

Aghanim's Scepter
- Now requires all three +10 attribute items instead of 2 and a 1100 gold recipe

Armlet of Mordiggian
- HP regen and lifedrain increased by 2 (overall +2 regen while inactive, no effective change while active)
- Recipe cost decreased from 900 to 700

Boots of Speed
- Movement speed from 50 to 55

Bracer, Null Talisman & Wraith Band
- Added +3 bonus damage to Bracer/Null/Wraith
- Increased Bracer/Null/Wraith recipe costs from 175/150/125 to 190/170/150

Buriza Do Kyanon
- Critical strike factor from 2.4 to 2.5

Clarity Potion
- Double clicking on Clarity Potion causes it to be used on your hero

Dagon
- Now requires a Null Talisman instead of a Blades of Attack

Ethereal Blade
- Slow on Ether Blast increased from 30 to 45%
- Cooldown on Ether Blast from 35 to 30

Eul's Scepter of Divinity
- Mana regeneration increased from 125% to 150% to match its components

Ghost Scepter
- Cooldown increased from 25 to 30
- Cost increased from 1500 to 1600

Eye of Skadi
- No longer requires the 300 gold recipe

Hand of Midas
- Transmute now gives 2.5 XP when used on a unit (2744725)

Healing Salve
- Double clicking on Healing Salve causes it to be used on your hero

Hood of Defiance
- Recipe changed from 2x RoR + Cloak + Helm to 2x RoR + Cloak + RoH (297602)

Magic Stick & Magic Wand
- AoE for gaining charges reduced from 1600 to 1200
- No longer give you charges if a spell was cast from the fog of war

Manta Style
- Increased recipe cost by 50 (Yasha recipe cost was reduced by 50)
- Rebalanced Manta Style for melee and ranged heroes

Mjollnir
- Static Charge changed from a chance on attacks to a chance on any damage
- Double click now activates Static Charge on yourself

Monkey King Bar
- Damage increased by 8 to be equal to the total damage from its components

Necronomicon
- Base attack time improved on Necronomicon Warriors from 1.0 to 0.75

Orb of Venom
- Duration increased to 4 seconds
- Price from 600 to 550

Phase Boots
- Readjusted bonuses:

Power Treads
- Attribute reduced bonus from +10 to all attributes to +8 to all attributes

Ring of Basilius
- Armor bonuses rebalanced.

Sange
- Added a 20% Attack Speed reduction to the slow on Maim
- Reduced recipe cost from 750 to 700

Sange and Yasha
- Increased the Attack Speed reduction on Maim's slow from 15% to 30%

Soul Booster
- Mana regen from 10% to 50%
- Health regen from 1hp to 2hp

Stygian Desolator
- Buff duration from 5 to 7 seconds

Urn of Shadows
- Soul Release now causes HP loss instead of magical damage when used on enemies (same overall dps as before, no longer disables dagger)

Yasha
- Reduced recipe cost from 750 to 700

* Added a new loading screen

* Rebalanced the assist Gold & XP system

* Added a couple of new juke spots

* Couriers can now carry Gem of Truesight (it loses its truesight while on courier)
* Reduced Glyph cooldown from 6 minutes to 5 minutes
* XP AoE increased from 1000 to 1200
* Added Slark, Chaos Knight and Magnus to CM

* Added a new Ancient creep camp (Thunder Lizards, has Frenzy & Slam)
* Satyr's Purge no longer autocasts

* Added a sound effect that notifies allies near the location you are teleporting to
* Added 4 more options to -music (other6/7/8/9)
* Added a new soundset for King Leoric (279632)
* Added a rabbit courier
* Improved Shadow Raze visual effect to match the AoE a little more
* Added a new effect when you get a last hit with Necromastery on Nevermore (266930)
* Lich now has his icy hands effect only when he gets Aghanim's Scepter
* Sven now transforms into a red version when he casts his ultimate (Ability Code: A1WH)
* Added various small doodads around the map
* Changed Bristleback's model and hero icon (210183)

* Added sound effect for Meepo's attack
* Added sound effect for Troll Warlord's melee attack
* Added Scepter visual effect for Enchantress
* Various misc improvements on Phantom Lancer's model
* Added -disablehelp for Bloodrage (233159)
* Added a new icon for Call Down (315263)
* Added a new visual effect while casting Curse of the Silent
* Hand of Midas bounty text is now easier to see (258830)
* Added a ground effect when the water is gushing out from Torrent (146694)
* New ability icon for Spirits (296349)
* Changed the illusion creation visual effect on Terrorblade's Conjure Image
* Added new hero icon for Io (296349)
* Added new icon for Haunt (240283)
* Added new icon for Reality (240283)
* Added new icon for Flaming Fists (263836)
* Improved Greater Bash Icon (280720)
* Improved Track Icon (280720)
* Improved Amplify Damage Icon (280720)
* Improved Slardar's Bash Icon (280720)
* Improved Plague Wards Icon (280720)
* Improved Greater Bash Icon (280720)
* Improved Soul Rip Icon (280720)
* Improved Grow Icon (280720)
* Improved Lion Hero Icon (280720)

* Fixed Charge of Darkness showing a dummy unit with HP bar
* Fixed some issues with Shackleshot calculation where it could sometimes hit weird angles.
* Fixed visible caster units during Light Strike Array and Split Earth
* Fixed converted creeps from sometimes being slowed by Enchant

* Fixed Healing Ward to indicate the level to your allies instead of just for you
* Fixed Roshan's interaction with Familiars
* Fixed some issues with a small number of spells not properly detecting Meld and Ghostwalk as invisible
* Fixed Sonic Wave targeting mechanism when casting towards a location with an allied unit (298969)
* Fixed using Conjure Image while magic immune (298995)
* Fixed Roshan not dispelling Urn of Shadows
* Fixed some cast mechanism issues with Techie's Suicide (242147)
* Fixed Liquid Fire interaction with Siege units (263667)
* Fixed a rare situation where Relocate would fail to teleport you
* Fixed a bug with freezing a leaver Spirit Breaker
* Fixed Tango dispelling Urn of Shadows healing effect
* Fixed Static Storm scoreboard cooldown being a little off
* Fixed a bug with Scepter Dismember and Linken's Sphere
* Fixed some AI issues with Firefly
* Fixed lag on first cast of Adaptive Strike
* Fixed a couple of abilities with slightly incorrect cooldowns on scoreboard
* Fixed some courier tooltips
* Fixed Dragon Slave targeting mechanism when casting towards a location with an allied unit
* Fixed interaction between Level 3 Rupture and Force Staff
* Fixed the scourge Glyph not showing the new icon (Ability Code: A1WH)
* Fixed some inconsistencies in the visual AoE of some abilities (no balance changes here, just making the cursors more consistent for: Avalanche, Storm Bolt, Rocket Flare, Pit of Malice, Expulsion, Chronosphere, Earthbind, Spin Web, Dream Coil, Weave, Maledict, Vacuum, Sanity's Eclipse)
* Fixed damage AoE on Waning Rift being slightly less than the silence AoE
* Fixed a very minor visual glitch when attempting to buy a recipe for power treads
* Fixed very minor inconsistency between the armor reduction and the damage AoE on Acid Spray
* Fixed AoE on Strygwyr's thirst being off by 25
* Fixed Sticky Napalm triggering Linken Sphere
* Fixed interaction bugs with Soul Rip and Ethereal state
* Fixed AoE on Song of the Siren being off by 25
* Fixed a rare bug with Spirit Bear losing track of his items
* Fixed some minor duration inconsistencies with God's Strength
* Fixed some triggered spells from bypassing Last Will (on Necronomicon Warrior) damage return
* Fixed Sticky Napalm compatibility problems with Shiva's Guard
* Fixed some possible lag scenarios with Soul Catcher
* Fixed a very rare cause where you could Soul Ring usage could be lethal
* Courier can no longer use Ghost Scepter (to prevent some abuses)
* Fixed some minor incorrect behaviors when using burning spears at very low hp
* Fixed some rare damage cap issues with Dragon Slave and Sonic Wave
* Fixed some minor duration inconsistencies with Insatiable Hunger
* Fixed Sticky Napalm malfunctioning when cast on units in Fog of War
* Fixed a fatal error possible with Skewer
* Fixed a minor visual bug when Unstable Concoction explodes in midair

* Fixed a few important bugs

* Fixed a major bug with Techies Remote Mines
* Fixed Geomancer clones restoring mana with Arcane Boots
* Wisp can no longer teleport to the enemy fountain
* Fixed a small bug with Flak Cannon against buildings when gyro has very low damage
* Fixed a bug when casting tether from outside of range limit while being moved with Relocate
* Fixed an issue with illusions and flak cannon
* Fixed a few other minor things

* Added a new hero (Wisp)

* Added a new hero (Thrall)

* Added a new hero (Eredar)

* Added a new hero (Gyrocopter)

Alchemist
- Unstable Concoction manacost from 90 to 120
- Unstable Concoction damage rescaled from 150/200/250/300 to 120/180/240/300

Anti-Mage
- Spell Shield increased from 10/20/30/40 to 15/25/35/45

Axe
- Battle Hunger now slows the target by 8% until it runs out or kills another unit

Bane Elemental
- Brain Sap cooldown from 20 to 16
- Fiend's Grip Scepter upgrade now drains 10% mana per second instead of 5%

Blood Seeker
- Agility gain increased from 2.6 to 3.0

Bounty Hunter
- Jinada cooldown from 21/16/11/6 to 15/12/9/6
- Track now gives 50 bonus bounty to all units affected by the track aura of that target
- Track bonus gold is treated as Reliable Gold

Broodmother
- Armor decreased by 2

Chaos Knight
- Reality Rift manacost increased from 50 to 70
- Starting str decreased by 4 and increased base damage by 4 to keep it constant

Clockwerk
- Armor increased by 1
- Battery Assault damage increased from 10/30/50/70 to 15/35/55/75
- Hookshot cooldown rescaled from 80/60/40 to 70/55/40

Dirge
- Tombstone cast range increased from 250 to 600

Doom Bringer
- LVL? Death mana cost rescaled from 85/105/125/145 to 110
- Scorched Earth mana cost increased from 60 to 60/65/70/75
- Scorched Earth movement speed bonus reduced from 20% to 16%
- Starting intelligence reduced from 16 to 13

Drow Ranger
- No longer has full night vision (same as the other heroes now, 800)

Invoker
- Strength gain increased from 1.4 to 1.7

Jakiro
- Macropyre travel range from 600/750/900 to 900

Juggernaut
- Healing Ward manacost rescaled from 140 to 80/100/120/140
- Healing Ward regeneration increased from 1/2/3/4% to 1/2/4/5%

Kaldr
- Armor reduced by 1
- Ice Blast cooldown from 44/32/20 to 45

Krobelus
- Carrion Swarm cooldown decreased from 9 base to 8 base (5->4 when fully upgraded)

Lanaya
- Psi Blades spill range from 320 to 320/340/360/380

Leoric
- Vampiric Aura lifesteal improved from 10/16/22/28% to 15/20/25/30%
- Reincarnation manacost increased from 100 to 140
- Reworked Hellfire Blast

Leshrac
- Split Earth stun duration increased from 1.25/1.5/1.75/2 to a constant 2

Lich
- Movement speed increased by 10
- Starting damage rescaled from 37-56 to 42-51

Lina Inverse
- Laguna Blade level 1 cooldown from 150 to 120
- Light Strike Array cooldown from 8 to 7

Luna
- Eclipse now turns day into night for 10 seconds
- Lunar Blessing bonus damage increased from 6/12/18/24 to 8/16/24/32
- Lunar Blessing now always provides full night vision

Medusa
- Movement speed decreased from 300 to 290
- Strength gain decreased from 1.85 to 1.65

Furion
- Teleport now has a tp scroll style indicator displayed for your allies
- Agility increased from 15 + 1.5 to 18 + 1.9

Meepo
- Movement speed increased from 300 to 305
- Poof manacost from 140/120/100/80 to 80

Naix
- Base damage improved by 5
- Casting Open Wounds no longer loses attack focus

Nerubian Weaver
- Shukuchi now has a 0.25 second fade time
- The Swarm manacost increased from 75 to 100
- The Swarm vision reduced from to 500 to 250

Nightstalker
- Base damage increased by 10
- Crippling Fear's miss chance from 10/20/30/40% to 40%

Ogre Magi
- Int gain increased from 1.9 to 2.4
- Fireblast rescaled from 75/125/175/275 to 80/145/210/275 (146745)
- Multi Cast manacost increase for Firebalst rescaled from 30/80/110 to 30/70/110 (146745)

Obsidian Destroyer
- Astral Imprisonment no longer causes the target to lose vision over that area
- Added Aghanim's Scepter to Obsidian Destroyer (along with a new visual effect)

Omni Knight
- Movement speed increased by 5

Pandarean Brewmaster
- Drunken Haze slow increased from 10/14/18/22 to 14/18/22/26

Priestess of the Moon
- Moonlight Shadow's cooldown rescaled from 160 to 180/160/140,
- Moonlight Shadow's duration rescaled from 7/9/11 to 11.

Puck
- Illusory Orb cooldown decreased from 15 to 13

Pudge
- Flesh Heap is now retroactive (Meaning it keeps track of your kills and is always updating your str based on your current level of flesh heap)
- Reduced Flesh Heap aoe from 525 to 450
- Meat Hook damage type changed from physical to pure
- Meet Hook damage adjusted from 100/200/300/400 to 90/180/270/360

Queen of Pain
- Scream of Pain manacost rescaled from 140 to 110/120/130/140

Razor
- Static Link cooldown decreased from 45/40/35/30 to 35/30/25/20
- Added Aghanim's Scepter to Razor (along with a new visual effect)

Sand King
- Armor increased by 1

Sniper
- Assassinate kills now give XP even if you are outside of range (208147)
- Night vision increased from 800 to 1000 (197918)

Spectre
- Desolate damage increased from 15/25/35/45 to 20/30/40/50
- Dispersion reflection increased from 5/10/15/20 to 10/14/18/22

Spirit Breaker
- Empowering haste from 4/6/8/10 to 6/8/10/12
- Aghanim's Scepter Nether Strike now also increases cast range (400/550/700->550/700/850)
- Charge of Darkness speed boost updates at smoother 0.5 intervals and displays a counter above your head (267094)
- Added a button to make it more obvious how to initiate the charge earlier. You can still use the old move method though. (193994)

Stealth Assassin
- Base agility increased by 10

Tauren Chieftain
- Natural Order aoe from 250 to 275

Techies
- Remote mines now detonate when killed (145024)

Terrorblade
- Soul Steal's secondary ability is now in the same position as the primary ability with the same hotkey (210124)

Tinker
- Armor increased by 1

Tiny
- Avalanche cooldown decreased from 20 to 17
- Toss cast range from 500/700/900/1100 to 700/900/1100/1300
- Added Aghanim's Scepter to Tiny

Vengeful Spirit
- Magic Missile manacost rescaled from 95/110/125/140 to 110/120/130/140

Venomancer
- Poison Sting slow from 10 to 11/12/13/14

Viper
- Added Aghanim's Scepter to Viper

Visage
- Gravekeeper's Cloak armor bonus rescaled from 2/3/4/5 armor per layer to 1/2/4/5 per layer
- Gravekeeper's Cloak magic resistance rescaled from 4/8/12/16% reduction per layer to 3/6/12/16 per layer
- Familiars maximum damage rescaled from 84/105/126 to 56/98/154
- Familiars cooldown from 160 to 180/160/140
- Soul Assumption's mana cost increased from 100 to 150

Warlock
- Fatal Bonds cooldown decreased from 30 to 25
- Added Aghanim's Scepter to Warlock

Zeus
- Arc Lightning cooldown from 2.5 to 2.25 seconds

* Added a new recipe item (Arcane Boots)

* Added new basic item (Orb of Venom)

Assault Cuirass
- Attack Speed decreased from 40% to 35%
- Aura Attack Speed increased from 15% to 20%

Animal Courier
- Price decreased from 200 to 170

Blade Mail
- Damage Return's duration increased from 3.5 to 4 seconds

Bloodstone
- Heal on wielder's death increased from 25 per charge to 30
- Now only loses a third of its charges on death (reduced from a half)

Buriza Do Kyanon
- Damage increased by 6 (to equal the total of crystalys and demon edge)

Cranium Basher
- Removed 25% chance to do 25 bonus damage (stun is still the same)
- Cranium Basher bonus damage increased from 30 to 40

Dust of Appearance
- Reduced AOE from 1250 to 1050

Ethereal Blade
- Removed Wraith Band from recipe (same bonuses still though)
- You can now target yourself

Eul's Scepter of Divinity
- Cast range increased from 600 to 700
- Added double click support for Euls (174341)

Eye of Skadi
- Orb of Venom added as a component. Final bonuses are the same as before.
- Recipe price decreased from 750 to 300

Heart of the Tarrasque
- Delay on regeneration reduced from 8 to 6 seconds

Maelstrom
- Recipe cost decreased from 900 to 800

Mekansm
- AoE of Restore increased from 450 to 750
- HP aura regen increased from 3 to 4

Quelling Blade
- Tree Chop cooldown decreased from 15 to 10

Sentry Wards
- Increased truesight vision from 800 to 950
- Reduced natural vision to just around itself

Urn of Shadows
- Heal no longer dispels from neutral creep damage
- Added a team notice when someone buys Urn of Shadows recipe

Vanguard
- HP bonus from 300 to 275

* Added a new gold mechanic to the game

* Support gold bounty gained for kills is now displayed ontop of each hero (not a change to bounty, but revealing the "extra" area bounty that was added a few patches ago, 16775)
* Minor adjustment (+50) to the extra aoe XP bounty
* Lane creeps vision from 1400/800 to 1100/800
* Day-Night now cycles at 25% faster rate
* The autozoom restore function in -zm is increased to give extra time to temporarily zoom in
* Game now displays a message to your allies if you buy back
* Added a -ub (-Unban) game mode to override the default -cm changed hero restrictions. You use this in combination with cm, -ubcm
* Reworked the -CM Ban and Picks process

* Added death animation for Throne (82594)
* 4 new Courier models (222933)
* Added a Flying Courier morph ability (175819)
* Added Mini Viper and Snow Owl flying courier models (175819)
* Added a mini-goblin zeppelin flying courier model
* Added a new ability to the courier that drops all the items that do not belong to you to their respective CoPs and then gathers all items that are yours onto the courier.
* Changed the courier morph hotkey to G to avoid conflicts with the new ability
* Game now displays a message when an ally purchases Dust, Observer Wards, Sentry Wards or Gem
* Added -il as a shortcut for -invokelist (43834)
* Increased Anti-Backdoor regeneration rate
* Fixed some visual issues with ground textures of some scourge buildings (217304)
* Fixed some buff icon inconsistencies (218840)
* Added Hook and Arrow Accuracy information to replay data

* New visual effect for Vengeful Spirit's scepter
* New visual effect for Witch Doctor's Aghanim Scepter
* New visual effect Puck's Scepter (206094)
* Added an Aghanim's visual effect for Axe (264503)
* Added an Aghanim's visual effect for Pudge (264503)
* Added an Aghanim's visual effect for Spiritbreaker (264503)
* Added an Aghanim's visual effect for Sand King (264503)
* Added an Aghanim's visual effect for Jakiro (264503)
* Added an Aghanim's visual effect for Night Stalker (264503)
* Added an Aghanim's visual effect for Earthshaker (166075)

* New Tidehunter hero story (244461)
* Added flavor text for Phase Boots (19010)

* Reworked when the visual effect is shown for Berserker's Blood (268354)
* Improved Chaos Bolt animation (247368)
* New Earthbind visual effect
* Added an extra visual effect for Nether Swap
* Added a visual damage indicator for Ethereal Blade (204930)
* Added a Burst visual effect for flying courier (21388)
* Added an aura visual for Leoric's Vampiric Aura (14145)
* Fixed some visual issues with Soul Steal (210124)
* New visual effect of Strafe (205629)
* Added a visual effect for the int stealing event on Silencer's Last Word (9993)
* Added temporary text overhead info for Sticky Napalm indicating stack counts

* New Breathe Fire icon (208513)
* New Earthbind Icon (202929)
* New March of the Machines Icon (223523)
* New Morph Icon (255633)
* New Scourge Glyph Icon (217705)
* New Strafe icon (205629)
* New Toss Icon (238905)
* New Torrent Icon (218829)

* Fixed Familiars tooltip
* Fixed Forge Spirit tooltip
* Fixed a bug with Curse of the Silent
* Fixed a bug with Charge of Darkness
* Fixed Invoke from triggering last word
* Fixed Rot dispelling curse of the silent
* Fixed Flaming Lasso scoreboard timer
* Fixed Batrider interaction bugs with Land Mines
* Fixed a minor rare bug with the caster unit for primal roar
* Fixed some visual glitches with passive Crystalys icon (208005)
* Fixed some visual glitches with passive Attribute Bonus icon (208766)
* Fixed a bug with the interaction of Ion Shell and Focus Fire
* Fixed some areas where you could get stuck with TP Scroll
* Fixed a bug that could allow courier to gain attack capability
* Fixed a bug with Soul Ring when your mana capacity changes
* Fixed some rare bugs with Hex interactions with some abilities
* Fixed Dark Pact not properly dispelling Crippling Fear or Void
* Fixed a bug with picking up Linken's Sphere while waveforming
* Fixed the launch projectile location for Dragon Knight's Elder Form
* Fixed X Marks The Spot when used on an ally carrying Linken Sphere
* Fixed some AI bugs with attacking roshan while teleported close inside
* Fixed a bug with moon wells water mechanic when you get stuck inside it
* Fixed a minor rare bug that produced the "cannot construct unit" message
* Fixed a very rare bug that could sometimes cause Toss to not throw anything

* About Phoenix

Thanks to all the beta testers, translators and players that provided feedback. Send me an email and let me know what you'd like to see in 6.69 and beyond.

* Fixed casting distance exploits with Skewer
* Fixed a bug that could sometimes cause everyone in the game gets a massive FPS drop for a minute
* Fixed Cleave/Anchor Smash from instantly killing Swarm creatures
* Various performance improvements when casting The Swarm
* Fixed Soul Steal channeling text in the tooltip
* Non-hero units now do half damage to The Swarm
* Commands like -test and -wtf are now restricted if there is a gamebot deciding the mode to be used
* Fixed a bug with lifesteal and The Swarm creatures
* Fixed a rare Mac issue with shared Soul Ring
* Added passive icon for Strygwyr's Thirst
* Added passive icon for Plague

Guide To Ezalor

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:37:00 +0000

Table Of Contents

Click on any section below to go to that section of the guide.

1. Introduction and Foreword
2. The Hero
3. The Skills
3.1. Mini Guide to Illuminate
4. Skill Build
5. Courier and Wards
6. Roles
7. Items
7.1. Item Build
8. Early Game Strategy
9. Mid Game Strategy
10. Late Game Strategy
11. Heavy Push Strategy
12. Drafting
13. Replays
14. Conclusion

Changelog

1. Introduction and Foreword

~Back to Table of Contents

First of all, Ezalor, Keeper of the Light (Kotl from now on) is one of the best support heroes in the game. He seems like a straightforward hero, but has many layers to his usage. He is very versatile and can be used in many different ways. I rarely see other Kotl players using him the way he, in my opinion, should be used, and surprisingly, nobody has written a guide on him. I really enjoy playing this hero, and although he does not get much credit at the end of the day, he can contribute a lot to the team. Also, Kotl is not very beginner-friendly, and will surely die a lot, but even so, his deaths are all for the team. Keep in mind that this is guide is geared towards competitive and organized games, where you and your opponents know what they're doing.

2. The Hero

~Back to Table of Contents

Strength: 16 + 1.8 per Level

Agility: 15 + 1.6 per Level

Intelligence: 22 + 2.8 per Level

Affiliation: Sentinel
Attack Animation: 0.3 / 0.85
Damage: 38 - 54
Casting Animation: 0.3 / 2.4
Armor: 1.1
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Movespeed: 315
Missile Speed: 900
Attack Range: 600
Sight Range: 1800 / 800

Pros/Cons

Pros
+ Very item independent
+ High movespeed
+ Great attack animation
+ Has semi-escape mechanisms
+ Can heal teammate's/self's mana instantly
+ Can deal some damage in the right situation
+ Great at pushing, and even better at counter-pushing
+ Has 3 very useful skills built into his ultimate

Cons
- Fragile and very vulnerable
- No stuns/disables
- Not a reliable source of damage
- Attack and casting animations both have long backswings
- Requires good team support/communication; Team dependent

Comments
Kotl is an excellent support hero who has nice abilities. He has high natural MS and is naturally built to support, requiring nearly no items/farm. He does have a semi-escape mechanism via Blinding Light, but is very vulnerable to nukes. He has a lot of the characteristics that you want a support hero to have, which makes him a good pick in competitive games. He fits into a lot of teams, especially into today's mana-intensive, high-spell-dependent metagame.

3. The Skills

~Back to Table of Contents

Illuminate

* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Point
* Ability Hotkey: T

Channels a ball of positive energy, letting it build up 100 damage per second. When released, it damages all enemies in a line. The distance also improves with channeling time.

Your one and only damaging spell is unfortunately a channeling spell, but this is actually not much of a problem. This spell allows you to push, defend, and harass with ease. It does have a high mana cost: 150 mana, but does wonders when used correctly, and only has a 10 second cooldown at all levels. It deals up to 200/300/400/500 damage with 800 range at all levels. The AOE is 350 and casting range is 230, which is very interesting because... The place where you cast your Illuminate is <230 range in front of you, but it has an AOE of 350, which means it will actually hit units right behind you. Also, since it has 350 AOE, it actually has a range of 1150 (800+350). You can also cancel it earlier than the maximum time by performing another action, in which case the damage will round down to the nearest 100. In the early game, you should use this as much as you can at the enemy(s), allowing your carry/lane partner to farm more easily.

Notes

• Damage type: magical
• Illuminate gives increasing vision of the target area as it is channeled, so it can be used to scout hidden places like Roshan.
• Can damage Meat Wagons and Glaive Throwers.

Mini Guide to "Illuminate"

~Back to Table of Contents

Illuminate is actually a fairly simple spell to use. However, because this is a guide for organized games, where (hopefully) you and your enemies are decent players, its hard to make your illuminating placements not obvious. To excecute an illuminate that will hit your target, Fog of War is your best friend. Keep in mind that your enemy will not see the big lightning ball even when it gets really big, unless you are in their vision. Use trees, hills and other hiding spots to surprise your opponents.
I have taken a few screenshots of a couple of places where you are in the fog while casting Illuminate. Do feel free to try any place you want; These are just some examples that I like to use.
Note: Be careful for enemy wards. Against a good enemy warder, you may be in sight of them because of an observer ward. If you get caught, you will likely die quickly. Try to be aware of their placements and/or counterward them.

Click on "show" to view screenshots.

Maximum Length of Illuminate

Sentinel Side

Top Lane - Offensive Illuminating

Top Lane - Defensive Illuminating

Middle Lane - Offensive Illuminating

Middle Lane - Defensive Illuminating

Bottom Lane - Offensive Illuminating

Bottom Lane - Defensive Illuminating

Scourge Side

Top Lane - Offensive Illuminating

Top Lane - Defensive Illuminating

Middle Lane - Offensive Illuminating

Middle Lane - Defensive Illuminating

Bottom Lane - Offensive Illuminating

Bottom Lane - Defensive Illuminating

Scouting/Checking Roshan

Special Illuminates!

Again, these are not the only places where you should Illuminate. In fact, there are no limits to where you "should" do it. All I can suggest is to use the Fog, and go to places where you yourself would not expect an Illuminate to come from.
**Note that sometimes, the "lightning ball" from the Illuminate will not face the direction where you clicked it to be. (This happens in many of the screenshots above) This will happen often in tight, narrow paths, which you will have to use when casting Illuminate so you're in the Fog of War. Just ignore this cosmetic problem when casting Illuminate; It will still go where you clicked it to go.

Mana Leak

* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Unit
* Ability Hotkey: E

Weakens the bond between the physical and magical essences of an enemy. The magical and physical essences will be divided if the target moves, causing the enemy to lose some of their mana. If the enemy loses all of its mana, it will be paralyzed while the bond is repaired.

Basically a Mana draining version of Bloodseeker's Rupture, but instead of the amount drained being based on the distance travelled, it is based on the enemy's maximum mana pool. When casted, the target will have 3.5/4/4.5/5% of it's maximum mana drained for 5/6/7/8 seconds. If the target runs out of mana from Mana Leak, it will be slowed by 60% for 2 seconds. Mana Leak has a cooldown of 20 seconds and a mana cost of 75 at all levels. Casting range improves (550/700/850/1000 range) per level.
I feel that people only use this skill for chasing enemies, because it has a slow applied to the enemy if it runs out of mana, but it can be used in many other ways. For example, using it on an enemy Tidehunter before a battle, retreating, then having your initiator go in will give your team a large advantage in the battle. If Tidehunter walks into your team under Mana Leak, attempting to use Ravage, he will risk losing his mana before he gets in the middle of the battle. You could also use Mana Leak to stop chasers from getting you or your teammate. Just remember to cancel the backswing animation, as Kotl has a backswing of 2.4 seconds after casting (as long as Crystal Maidens!)

Notes

• If the target travels over 300 distance in less than 0.1 second (by using blink skills, for example), Mana Leak will not decrease its mana for that distance. Therefore, using it on an enemy Earthshaker or Sand King before a battle (to discourage him from blinking in) will not actually drain any of his mana.

Chakra Magic

* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Unit
* Ability Hotkey: C

Channels chakras through a friendly unit, creating a surge of mana.

A simple, yet mind-blowingly useful spell. This is Kotl's signature spell, and the main reason why he is picked in competitive games. When casted on your teammate, it heals 75/150/225/300 of his or her mana instantly, with a cooldown of 19/18/17/16 seconds. It also has a long casting range of 900, and a mana cost of 40/55/70/85. Because of the mana cost, you actually only heal 35/95/155/215 mana when you cast it on yourself. Remember to cancel the backswing animation on Kotl, because it is pointless to watch your hero wave his wand around for 2 and a half seconds finishing the casting of a spell that heals your mana instantly. Its simple: just perform another action right after you cast Chakra Magic, and you'll save some precious time. Also, remember to keep checking the cooldown on it. Never let it sit off cooldown, because mana is precious. Even if your teammate has 350/390 mana, Chakra him; theres no point in wasting time.

Note: Always check you and your teammates' amount of mana. I really want to emphasize this because your main skill is the ability to heal mana. If you don't do it all the time, and/or heal somebody who has full mana or doesnt need mana, you are wasting a hero pick of your team. You will have to use your own judgement to decide who needs the mana more, and who needs it urgently. For example, say you are trying to quickly push a lane, and you have a Necrolyte and Furion on your team. Necrolyte has 40/450 mana, and Furion has 90/420. Even though Necrolyte is lower on mana, Furion's Treants are the main pushing tool, and it will be useless to cast Chakra Magic on Necrolyte because his heal will not help your team push nearly as much as Treants would. Good decision making of things like these are the difference between a good Kotl player and an excellent Kotl player.

Notes

• Cannot target allies with magic immunity.

Spirit Form

* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Instant
* Ability Hotkey: F

Ezalor turns his body luminescent temporarily. His mastery of light becomes so powerful that he can freely cast Illuminate without channeling, cast a brilliant light that blinds foes, and teleport allies from anywhere to his side at light speed.

Spirit Form, Kotl's ultimate, actually has 3 spells built in one! I will explain each of them separately, just for clarity.
Spirit Form itself costs 100 mana, has a cooldown of 80/70/60 seconds, and lasts 40 seconds.

Recall

* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Unit
* Ability Hotkey: R

Target an allied hero. Teleports that hero to your location. If the target takes player based damage during this period, this ability is interrupted.

The above description explains basically everything. You and your teammates need very good communication (or Ventrilo, etc), to make full use of this spell. You yourself also need to be sharp and aware: both are qualities of a good support player.
This is like a free TP scroll for your teammates.. and...
Pros: Your teammate can move, cast, and do actions as if they were not using a TP scroll. It cannot be cancelled unless..
Cons: If the targetted, Recalling hero takes damage from other heroes, the TP will be cancelled.
Recall has a Mana Cost of 100, a global casting range, and a cooldown of 40 seconds (which means you will only be able to recall one teammate per Spirit Form usage, since Spirit Form only lasts 40 seconds).

Notes

• Since the cooldown and mana cost take effect upon casting, the mana will be deducted and the spell will go into cooldown even if the spell is interrupted.
• This ability can target any allied hero on the map.
• The -disablehelp command can prevent an allied Keeper of the Light from casting this ability on you.
• This skill interrupts channeling spells.

Blinding Light

* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: AoE
* Ability Hotkey: B

Blind nearby units, causing them to miss 80% of the time.

This is your semi-escape mechanism which can be used in various ways. The ideal situation to use this in would be when a enraged, overpowered Ursa comes at you. Not only do you push the enemy away, but he will miss 80% of the time for the next 3/4/5 seconds. You can also use it to push the enemies into your team in a team fight. You will be fairly safe when you do this, because even though you will be near the enemy team when you cast it, they will be missing 80% of their physical attacks on you. The spell pushes all units from the central casting point outwards by 300 range.
Blinding Light has a cooldown of 20 seconds, a low mana cost of 50 mana, and a casting range of 600.

Notes

• Causes knockback of 250 range over 0.4 seconds, centered on the middle of the target AoE.
• If a unit being knock-backed collides with a tree, the tree is destroyed.

Click 'show' for 2 pictures of Blinding Light's animation

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 800x600.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 800x600.

Basically shows how Blinding Light works. All the units that get pushed will have the 80% chance to miss for 3/4/5 seconds. Note that it will take a slight moment after you click for the circle to appear.

Illuminate "Upgrade"

This isn't actually a spell, but is rather a boost to your Illuminate. When you have Spirit Form activated, all the Illuminates you perform will be done by a ghost form of Kotl charging up where you casted it. Meanwhile, you will not have to stand there and channel Illuminate, and will be free to move around and do anything as if you were not casting Illuminate. This comes in especially handy when you want to bait the enemies into the Illuminate, because you can cast it, lure the enemies into it, since you do not seem to be charging anything and have a 400 damage nuke blasted at them. Note that You can press "T" anytime into the charging to make your ghost release the Illuminate right away.

4. Skill Build

~Back to Table of Contents

Note: The skill builds below are certainly not the only skill builds there are. They are just models and guidelines to what is most commonly effective. They will just be the builds in a competitive game where you do, in my opinion, what a Kotl is supposed to do.

Laning/Babysitting Build

Level 1 - Chakra Magic
Level 2 - Illuminate
Level 3 - Chakra Magic
Level 4 - Illuminate
Level 5 - Chakra Magic
Level 6 - Spirit Form
Level 7 - Chakra Magic
Level 8 - Illuminate
Level 9 - Illuminate
Level 10 - Mana Leak
Level 11 - Spirit Form
Level 12 - Mana Leak
Level 13 - Mana Leak
Level 14 - Mana Leak
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Spirit Form
Level 17-25 - Stats

In this Skill Build, Chakra Magic is maxed out first because the instant burst of mana is extremely useful in the early game, especially if you and your lane partner want more mana for harassing power, which leads to you having lane control.
Next, Illuminate is added because the extra channeling time is not a big deal (since you will be using it in the forest to harass enemies or for defending purposes), but the damage increase is very noticeable. A 500 damage AOE spell in the early-mid game can be devastating if used correctly. Therefore, we add Illuminate second.
Mana Leak is not very useful if you are just babysitting (letting your lane partner/carry farm more easily) and playing defensively, but the slow and mana "burn" can help. I prefer getting Illuminate over Mana Leak only if you are focusing on babysitting your lane partner, letting him/her farm, and not going for hero kills. Illuminate is also added first in this build because the damage from Illuminate is more noticeable early on (when enemies have low HP), while Mana Leak is based of the % of the target's mana pool, which will increase later on in the game. However, feel free to change it up according to the situation.
Lastly, Spirit Form is skilled whenever possible because you do have the mana to use it to its full potential, even in the early game. You want to be in Spirit Form as much as you can in battles, since the spells it provides are invaluable.

Standard Build

*Note: When it says, for example "Mana Leak/Illuminate", it means that I recommend getting Mana Leak over Illuminate for that Level.

Level 1 - Chakra Magic
Level 2 - Illuminate/Mana Leak
Level 3 - Chakra Magic
Level 4 - Mana Leak/Illuminate
Level 5 - Chakra Magic
Level 6 - Spirit Form
Level 7 - Chakra Magic
Level 8 - Illuminate/Mana Leak
Level 9 - Illuminate
Level 10 - Illuminate
Level 11 - Spirit Form
Level 12 - Mana Leak
Level 13 - Mana Leak
Level 14 - Mana Leak
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Spirit Form
Level 17-25 - Stats

This build, in my opinion, is the standard (or atleast my standard) skill build for Kotl in a typical game. Chakra Magic is, again, maxed first because the extra boost of mana is very effective early game. It is simply too useful to give up for an extra Level of another spell.
Either Illuminate or Mana Leak can be leveled at Level 2 and Level 4. Illuminate should be added if you really want that extra harassing damage and you're not going for a kill. Mana Leak should be added if you want to get an early kill or two, or if the enemies have a high mana pool and depend heavily on Mana. The slow from Mana Leak really helps get those few extra hits in for an early kill attempt. By Level 10, I recommend having Illuminate maxed over Mana Leak because when you're Level 10, big pushes and teamfights will often happen, and the burst AOE damage of Illuminate is at its peak strength. Adding Mana Leak past Level 1 is not very beneficial early on, as the enemies still have a fairly low Mana pool. Mana Leak depletes Mana based on % of the enemy's mana, so it burns a lot more on, for example, Obsidian Destroyer than on Tiny. You want to add Mana Leak over stats, because you will really want to have a chasing spell once you stop babysitting. Kotl's main weakness is his lack of a stun/disable/escape mechanism, and Mana Leak is the only semi-solution. Mana Leak will also be more effective Late game, where Int heroes have extremely high Mana pools. On the other hand, Illuminate is much more useful early, when heroes have rather low HP. However, you should remember to adapt to your current game situation, because nothing is for sure in a DotA game.
Lastly, Spirit Form is taken whenever possible because, again, you do have the mana to use the spells to its full potential, even in the early game. You want to be in Spirit Form as much as you can in battles, since the spells it provides are invaluable.

Questions [Q&A]

Q: Why do you add Chakra Magic at Level 1 as opposed to Illuminate or even Mana Leak for a first blood attempt?
A: Rarely will a Kotl be part of a first blood attempt because there are just many other heroes who can contribute a lot more than a 200 damage nuke over 2 seconds or a short slow. Also, Chakra Magic allows your lane partner to start spamming his spells right off the bat, earning you better control of the lane from Level 1. Since it only costs 40 mana for you to cast Chakra Magic, you can just keep spamming it on your ally.

Q: Why do you get Spirit Form at Level 6?
A: When you are Level 6, the skills that Spirit Form provides are far superior to an extra Level of Illuminate. Recall helps bring your lane partner back to the lane if he had died, went ganking and left the lane, or went to get the rune. Blinding Light is your main escape mechanism, so its best to have it as soon as possible. These are all small things that make Kotl such a solid support hero, and you certainly don't want to lose these assets by not adding Spirit Form.

Q: Is it good to get Stats in the early Levels?
A: I do not recommend adding Stats early game at all. Even though this may seem like a good idea for increasing your HP and MP by a bit, it is certainly not worth stalling the levels of your other far more important skills.

Q: Why does it say "Illuminate/Mana Leak" for Level 8? I thought you said Illuminate was more useful than Mana Leak early game.
A: Yes, I did say that Illuminate is better than Mana Leak early game. Situationally, you might want to have the extra second and 0.5% of burned Mana from Mana Leak if you are facing many "squishy" Mana-dependent heroes like Slayer or maybe Nevermore. However, in most cases, Illuminate is better than Mana Leak just because Illuminate deals such significant AOE damage in early team fights.

5. Courier and Wards

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Kotl is a natural support hero; Therefore, he is best suited to buy the chicken and/or the first set of observer or sentry wards. I've actually seen a Crystal Maiden in a competitive game (I believe it was MyM|PusHer), who's starting items were Observer Wards, Sentry Wards and the courier. She had 3 gold left over, and had no heal or stat items. Kotl can actually do this if you are skilled enough, confident, and have a good team, but this is very risky. Below is what I think Kotl should do in the beginning of the game in relation to getting courier and wards.

I think Kotl is not the best hero to get the courier, unless he is the only support hero in the team. Often, there will be another semi-support hero along with Kotl on a team (For example, Witch Doctor). Its better to have that other support hero buy the courier, because Kotl has very low starting stats and armour, which makes him very vulnerable to any early harassment. However, he needs to be aggressive in the lane, so he needs the gold for regeneration items and some ironwood branches. If you don't buy the courier from the start, make sure to be the one upgrading it to a crow once you have the gold; It is certainly a good investment for your 200 gold.

Kotl has a relatively high starting MS (315), allowing him to place wards quickly, which naturally makes him the hero getting the wards instead of the hero getting the courier. In my opinion, Kotl should get the wards at Level 1, and the team should have another hero get the courier. Although this is only the best case scenario, it is perfectly fine to get both the courier and the starting wards, and do not hold yourself back from doing so if you have to. Just make sure that you get at least one of them, because you are a main support hero, and both of these items are crucial to the team's early game success.

If you are doubtful about your skill in placing observer/sentry wards, please refer to Heldarions Total Warding Guide. Its an wonderfully written warding guide with a LOT of useful information.

6. Roles

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Kotl as a Full Support Hero

This is the most common role that a Kotl is assigned. Kotl has all the tools to support well and babysit well. He barely needs any items, and if he does, he has Illuminate to get creeps very quickly. He can actually farm quite quickly, but the farm is much more useful for the carry, as Kotl needs barely any items to be useful. In this role, play defensively and cautiously. Your main use will be to provide Mana and some defending/pushing power. You really don't need much money and experience, so stay back in team fights. It is quite hard to master Kotl's support play-style and make a big impact in a battle, but he is meant to be played passively.

Kotl as a Pushing/Creep-Clearing Hero

Because of Illuminate, Kotl has an excellent ability to clear creep waves with ease. Kotl may be placed in a push-heavy lineup not only because of Illuminate, but because of Chakra Magic as well. In this role, you will actually cast Chakra Magic on yourself a lot, because Illuminate costs quite a bit of Mana (150) and you will run out very quickly. Your main goal will be to actually kill as many creeps as you can. If there are no creeps to illuminate and you have your Chakra Magic off cooldown, make sure to heal the teammate who needs Mana the most.

7. Items

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Useful Items

Wards are the essential items of the support hero. It provides invaluable sight to prevent ganks, start ganks, and to scout other useful places such as the rune spots. Try to have 1 or 2 observer wards at all times. If you notice that the enemies seem to know where you are, counterward the common areas with sentry wards. Replenish your wards throughout the game, as it is your main role to do so.

As mentioned above in the "Courier and Wards" section, I think that Kotl should be the hero upgrading the crow rather than the hero getting the courier. He has a high MS, which makes him a natural warder, and needs some extra money for stats and heals. Upgrade the crow as soon as you have the gold, because the other heroes need the gold a lot more, even if it's just 200. Again, if needed, buy both the courier and the starting observer wards because you are a main support hero, so you shouldn't be greedy; Just do it, it helps the team a whole lot.

Try to grab your Boots of Speed as soon as possible, after you upgrade the crow. It provides you with mobility to escape minor gank attempts and to place wards more quickly. With just a Boots of Speed, you have 365 MS, which is already quite high when compared to other support heroes like Crystal Maiden, who would have only 330 MS.

Once you have some extra gold, getting Power Treads will provide you with 190HP and extra MS, a very good investment. Of course, BoT the best choice, but it is very expensive and you probably won't be able to afford it unless your team kills numerous towers early on. Of course, you'll have to make the in-game decision whether or not you should upgrade to one of these. I personally like getting Treads because it is cheap enough, yet very beneficial for 950 gold.

One of the best items for its price in today's metagame. 225 heal to HP and MP is a lot, and can help you in more ways than imaginable. Certainly fits into Kotl's low budget item build, and provides some much needed stats, even if its just a little. A must-have item for Kotl.

Urn of Shadows has become extremely popular on support heroes, and for a good reason. It provides a bit of HP, Mana regen, and since you will be near the battles providing Mana, you will pick up atleast a few charges on the Urn, allowing you and your teammates to stay in the lane longer. The best part of all is that it costs only 875 gold, and comes in very small, useful pieces. Excellent item for Kotl, and almost any other support hero.

Mekansm is an obvious item that Kotl can make use of. He has the Mana to repeatedly use it whenever its off cooldown. The whole thing comes in small parts, so its easy for Kotl to build up. Stats are nice, the heal is invaluable, and the armour is a nice bonus to increasing your EHP. Get this if you have the gold, but try to have Observer Wards on hand. It only costs 200 gold, yet provides a lot more than what any component of Mekansm can provide.

Expensive Intelligence items are always good, but cost a heck of a lot. I doubt that a Kotl, in a competitive game doing what hes supposed to do, will farm a BoT, Mekansm, and Shiva's Guard. Nonetheless, these items are awesome items for Kotl, and will make a big impact if you somehow get the gold for them. If you do get the gold to get one of these, I recommend getting Guinsoo's (Hex Stick), just because Hex is such a powerful skill to have in the late game. The stats provided are ever so useful, but again, it is very expensive and you should not expect to finish any of these items in a typical game.

Situational Items

Bracers are a purely situational item. Because of your need of inventory slots for Dust, Wards, and Counter Wards, a Bracer will really fill things up. However, it is a viable replacement to Urn, and does provide some much needed HP for a very low price. I think saving an extra 500 gold for Strength Treads is much more useful, but again, Bracers are a thing to consider in-game.

Hood of Defiance is obviously good to prevent nukes from killing you in 2 seconds. However, its real benefit comes when you upgrade it to a Pipe. Although Pipe of Insight costs 3653 gold altogether, a 400 magic damage barrier for every hero on your team is priceless in a team battle. These are certainly not must-have items, and I don't recommend getting Hood of Defiance and not upgrading it to a Pipe. It costs a bit too much for its use, but is certainly an item to consider if you have the gold.

I don't think these items need much explanation. Get them if you feel that you are being focused a lot, but want to stay in the battle longer. Kotl is going to die a lot anyways, so there are many other item choices that are more worth the money than Blademail and Ghost Scepter.

Vladmir's Offering is actually a viable option for Kotl. Since you are the support hero, you are not a bad hero to get Vlads. The whole team benefits a lot from the auras, but only get it if you have 2 or more melee DPS heroes on your team who seem to be lacking some damage and HP in battles. It does cost 1950 gold, but it comes in small, helpful pieces. This is another item that you'll have to consider getting in-game.

Rejected Items

People tend to get Vanguard on "squishy", ranged heroes like Kotl. Well, Kotl is not meant to be a tank, and does not need the survivability to be used at his full potential. For 2225 gold, you could get a lot of other items to help the team and yourself. Vanguard is quite a waste of money.

I've actually seen a Kotl player get Dagon for "burst damage". Well, Kotl is not meant to deal massive amounts of damage. If you really want to deal some damage, you have a spell that does 500 magical damage in an AOE. Why waste 2850 gold to get an item that does 400 to one target?

Obviously, the damage bonus from Phase Boots is wasted. Also, it doesn't matter if you get creep blocked, and the burst movespeed isnt really what Kotl needs. He already has 365 MS with Treads, which also gives him 190 HP. Phase Boots is a waste, and for 50 gold less, Treads is much more beneficial for him.

Kotl's skills have a low enough cooldown for you not to have to buy a 5300 gold item to make up for it. Refresher orb is simply a waste, and another rejected item.

I don't know why, but a lot of players like pulling epic l33t mindgames with Blink Dagger and Illuminate. Well, if you want to fool around and have your teammates yell at you in a competitive game, while wasting 2150 gold, be my guest. Oh, and I forgot about how you can Recall teammates onto high cliffs, trapping them there while you blink away... Real smart... /sarcasm

You already have a spell that heals 300 mana every 16 seconds. Its not worth it to waste 1700 gold buying something you already have. Don't waste your money with Arcane Ring.

Soul Ring is a useless item for Kotl simply because he already has a reliable source of mana via Chakra Magic. He doesn't have enough HP anyways to support the loss of 150HP, so this item is just a waste of money for Kotl.

DPS items are rejected because Kotl is not a DPS hero, and attacks slow anyways.

Item Build

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Starting Items at Base

Option 1:

This is the most common build that I see, and I also use this build often. This build is for a Kotl who wards first, and upgrades the crow. It provides a lot of heal, a small bonus to stats, and the ever-important observer wards. A solid start which allows you and your laning partner to stay in lane for a fairly long time.
Total cost: 596

Option 2:

This is the same build as above, except you will be the one getting the Courier instead of the Observer wards. Again, this build provides a lot of heal, a small bonus to stats, and the courier, which is essential for carries because they want to go back as little as possible. A solid start which allows you and your laning partner to stay in lane for a fairly long time.
Total cost: 596

Option 3:

In this build, you will be getting both the Courier and the Observer wards. This leaves you with only 200 gold, so I recommend getting one salve and one tango. Tango will be for minor harassment, and Salve will be used surviving (if you do at all) a fairly large fight. Since you buy both the Courier and the Observer wards, the team will have more gold, but you will have to play more defensively. Feel free to change up the build, throwing in some Ironwood branches or some clarity potions.
Total cost: 590

Option 4:

This is an Advanced Starting Item Build. Only more experienced and skillful players should attempt this build from Level 1. You will get both Observer wards and Sentry Wards at Level 1 for counterwarding the enemy's wards. This is for a more offensive lane, since you are trying to eliminate their wards so they won't see you. You will, once again, be left with 200 gold for a tango and a salve. Again, feel free to change up the build, throwing in some Ironwood branches and clarity potions.
Total cost: 590

Core Items

[]

A fairly cheap Core build with no big items, mostly because all a good Kotl needs are wards and maybe treads. Treads provides a nice bit of HP and more MS, Urn of Shadows provides great bonuses and an incredibly useful heal, and Magic Wand is for that extra burst to HP/MP that everyone loves. The TP scroll and Observer wards are quite self-explanatory. However, it is situational whether or not you want to get Sentry wards and/or Dust of Appearance. Dust is obviously for those pesky invisible heroes, and it is your role, as a support hero, to buy the dust for the team. Sentry wards are for mainly for counterwarding, and whether or not you get it depends on the game situation, your knowledge of where their wards are, and your overall warding skill. Try to counterward if you have gold for Sentry wards, because having sight is a key factor in a competitive game, and if the enemy doesn't have much sight, you will have a big advantage.
Total cost: 3569.
This seems like a lot, but its actually very little compared to other heroes who have a Core Item Build of 6000+ gold. Plus, all of Kotl's Core items come in small, affordable, and useful parts.

Luxury Items

Note: Don't expect to finish anything more than Mekansm, because in a realistic game, you'll rarely farm enough gold for Luxury Items. However, if you find yourself with a fairly large sum of money, then go for any of the following.

Whether or not you will get one of these items, and which you should get will depend on the game's situation. Again, do not expect to finish much more than Mekansm, because your role includes continuously buying wards for the team. Of course, if you can, try to get some Luxury Items so you can help the team, but don't steal the carry's farm to get them.

Questions [Q&A]

Q: How about Bracers, when should I get them?
A: Bracers/Nulls do provide a nice stat boost, but they take up a much needed inventory slot. In the mid-game, your inventory should contain Boots/Treads, Observer wards, Sentry wards/Dust, a TP scroll, a Magic Wand and an Urn of Shadows. Thats already 6 extremely important items. I don't think putting an extra Bracer in there would be very wise, but if you feel like you need it, by all means, get a Bracer/Null Talisman.

Q: Is it good to get an early Point Booster just for the HP/MP bonus?
A: I actually used to do this, but the mana feels like its wasted sometimes because of Chakra Magic, and the HP doesn't seem like that much. For 250 gold less, Power Treads provides the same amount of HP, and extra MS and IAS while saving a precious inventory slot. If you feel like the HP/MP from Point Booster would really help, grab one once you have the gold, because it is a viable item on Kotl.

Q: Why do you need Clarity Potions as Starting Items when you have Chakra Magic already?
A: You will often find yourself not using Illuminate much, but rather continously casting Chakra Magic on your teammate. Even though it costs very little mana to cast, it adds up when you spam it, so its good to have Clarity potions for yourself when you have low mana, and use Chakra Magic for your teammate. Also, Chakra Magic doesn't heal a lot of mana in the early levels, so its always good to have a secondary source of mana until you get to Level 5-7.

8. Early Game Strategy

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Right off the bat, you should put a ward that allows you to see the rune and prevents your lane from getting ganked. You should use your good attack animation to your advantage and get a couple of hits to harass the enemy early on, but only if you have the lane in your control and you are safe. Chakra Magic your lane partner whenever possible, and Illuminate the heroes if you can. Try not to get the kills on the creeps with your Illuminate, which seems kind of silly, but there are two reasons for this.
1) You do not want to push the lane in the early game, as it will let the enemy farm more easily than your lane partner because the creeps are near the enemy's side of the map.
2) You do not need the gold. You need almost no items, while your teammates probably need a lot of gold for items.
Continue to ward and counterward, while trying to do as much as you can to help your lane partner have a good early game. Kotl is not much of a force late game, so you have to make use of your early game advantage. If your partner gets a high cs and lots of farm early on, your job is basically complete for the rest of your game. This is why each and every minute of your early game is so vital for a Kotl player.

9. Mid Game Strategy

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Once you are about Level 9-10, your lane partner should have some decent DPS items. Use Mana Leak to help your carry chase, as it is extremely powerful in the fact that it burns Mana. You have to be careful in the Mid game, because nukes will be flying everywhere, and you will have no defense because of your low HP. Play smartly and be very aware of where the enemy is. You still need to continuously ward, and if you do it correctly, you should be safe from ganks and surprise attacks. Cast your Chakra Magic whenever possible, and make use of your Illuminate as much as you can, because it will soon become very weak. Kotl is usually picked in a Mid game nuking powerhouse strategy, so try to make an impact before the late game comes.

10. Late Game Strategy

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If the game goes farther than expected, and you reach Level 16+, you will have to play very cautiously. You have certainly lost a lot of your impact, and unlike other heroes, you don't have many tricks up your sleeves. Illuminate will still do a bit of damage in team fights when combined with other AOE disables (Ex. Black Hole, Ravage). Try to use Blinding Light in the beginning of the battles, as it well help your initiator and carry hero attack a lot more safely. Recall your teammates to bring them into the battle, and to situationally save them. Don't stop using Chakra Magic, because 300 Mana is still a lot for a lot of str/agi heroes like Tidehunter or Phantom Lancer. Continue warding as much as you can, because map control is very important in a long game. There is not much more you can do if heroes start to turn Level 20+. All you can do is support and ward, helping your carry as much as you can. Your impact is basically gone, but you are still a great counter-push hero and your Mana Leak will burn a lot of Mana from int heroes who now will have a very high mana pool.

11. Heavy Push Strategy

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This is a highly advanced and team-dependent strategy. Do not attempt this strategy unless you have a very well-coordinated team and are fairly skilled in this field. This strategy can be divided into two strategies.

1. Choosing a group of strong pushing heroes and gathering up in the mid game for a big push. The heroes will usually get to Level 7-8, when they have their main skill maxed out and have their ultimate.

Heroes often used:
Kotl, Enigma, Furion, Necrolyte, Broodmother, Vengeful Spirit, Warlock, Lycan

Heroes you should ban (assuming it is captains mode):
Pit Lord, Earthshaker, Medusa, Rhasta, Tidehunter, Magnataur, Kunkka. Basically any hero that loves having a lot of units to kill, can kill many units easily and quickly, or heroes that have strong AOE damage/stuns.

Gameplay: A solo Furion is preferred by many clans, like MyM, for example. Furion's treants have quite a bit of HP, and having him at Level 7 will make him able to "double" the amount of creeps. You should usually play defensively, basically trying to Level up and last hit. After a bit of farm is achieved (a Mekansm/Necromonicon from the solo, an Arcane ring from another hero, and maybe even a Vlads if there are some melee summons/heroes), then you should group up in a lane and use all your summons to push, putting pressure on the enemy heroes. The healer is very important in this strategy (usually Necrolyte), as burst damage will rip your lineup apart. If you execute this strategy well enough, the other team will not have much chance to counter, since each "right click" from everyone will do 400+ dmg, without even mentioning creeps or extra nukes. An early rosh might even be preferred to further boost the heroes' Levels, but is very risky due to enemy wards. If this strategy fails when you first push, it will be hard to come back, because the enemies will be positioned and ready. Again, a very risky and team-dependent strategy, requiring good teamwork.

Kotl's job: Obviously, spam Chakra Magic whenever possible. I find it ironic that I put Arcane ring on the rejected items list, but for this strategy only, you might want an Arcane ring for even more Mana heal. Recall is especially important if your teammates die, since you will probably be Level 6+ in this strategy.. Illuminate in the Fog, because the enemies have more high Level spells to throw at you if they see you. Mana Leak is not recommended for this build, because it will be like a permanent 5v5 team fight where Illuminate will be superior, but if you can afford to, put a Level in Mana Leak.

2. Choosing 5 strong Level 1 pushers and going to one lane, pushing right off the bat. This is even more risky and advanced, requiring extremely good team coordination and communication.

Heroes often used:
Kotl, Necrolyte, Furion, Pugna, Venomancer, Warlock, Broodmother

Heroes you should ban (assuming it is captains mode):
Pit Lord, Medusa, Nerubian Assasin, Puck, Tauren Chieftain. Pugna and Furion if you didn't choose them.

Gameplay: You will be pushing a lane with all 5 heroes from Level 1. Usually mid is the preferred lane, because it is the shortest, making you push slightly faster. Your team needs to put constant pressure on the enemies, summoning whenever possible and healing when needed. Extremely good teamwork is required to pull this off, as well as great communication. If done correctly, the enemies will not have much room to do anything, and since they are Level 1, they will die extremely easily. After taking down a couple of towers, assuming that you did, your team should have an Arcane ring and maybe a Mekansm, using the crow to bring it over. Keeping constant pressure is extremely important in this tactic, so spending 150-400 gold buying back early on is not a bad choice. If you do seem to be struggling, you have no choice but to keep pushing, because the heroes in this strategy are not mid-late game friendly, and you will be torn apart if that stage of the game comes. Again, note that you need a very well coordinated team for this, so do not expect to succeed against skilled players on your first try.

Kotl's job: Spam Chakra Magic on Furion, since his Treants are, arguably, the most important thing in this strategy. Do cast Chakra Magic on the other heroes depending on who needs it the most, but I think that Furion's treants are extremely important. Illuminate does clear creeps quickly, so use it to put pressure on the enemies and to push, but be aware of your own mana, because if your Mana goes below the cost of Chakra Magic, you will have to use a clarity potion, wasting precious time. Thats basically all you have to do. If you reach Level 6, Recall your teammates to put on constant pressure, but in a non-em game, you might actually not reach Level 6, unless the strategy fails.

12. Drafting

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Kotl is not an extremely common pick, and should only be picked in either pushing teams or in teams with lots of Mana dependent heroes. He is an excellent babysitter, and is usually picked together with a carry as the 3rd and 4th pick (4th and 5th if you had first pick). A lot of heroes go well with him, especially now, with the high nuking and mana-oriented metagame. He is food for a lot of heroes, though, so look at the enemy's team before picking him.

Allies and Enemies

Allies

The most famous hero that Kotl is paired with. Phantom Lancer is a natural carry hero who can greatly benefit Chakra Magic because it will allow him to constantly spam his 7 second cooldown nuke. PL also needs babysitting, and Kotl's Illuminate harassing the enemies will give PL a lot of much needed early farm. Also, Mana Leak might be able to set up an early kill or two when combined with a Lance. A typical good laning partner.

Sven is another good carry hero who needs babysitting early game. Also, any Sven player would agree that he runs out Mana extremely quickly, so Chakra Magic is perfect for him. He has an AOE stun, which could pair up with Illuminate for a lot of damage. Mana Leak is good, as Sven chases a lot, and Warcry gives you even more MS on top of your already high MS.

Combined with Kotl, Broodmother can push extremely fast without having to worry about Mana. Brood also needs a good early game, so Kotl can help a lot with that. Again, Mana Leak will slow a lot when coupled with Brood's passive slow, and you both have high damage "nukes". An excellent pushing combo when played correctly.

Basically any hero who is very Mana-dependent but has a low Mana pool, and requires a fair amount of farm/babysitting to do well later on in the game.

Enemies

I'm not going to put any specific enemy to Kotl, because almost every hero, when played correctly, can be an extreme hazard to Kotl. I will simply list some of Kotl's general enemies, but only ones who are common picks in competitive games.

The biggest enemies are the ones who do a lot of burst nuking damage, but don't have to chase to kill you. Kotl has extremely low health and has no protection against nukes, so you have to play cautiously. (Mana Leak doesn't drain Mana when the target is Blinking, so heroes like Storm Spirit, Puck, and QoP will still get you.)

Special Notable Enemies

Pugna is an often counterpick to high mana-consuming teams. Since Kotl is often used in these teams, Pugna's Nether Ward will really mess up the team. The degeneration is also annoying, and the zap will notify the enemies of any incoming Illuminates.

When enemies see a Kotl on the other side of the lane, they will go and grab a Magic Wand/Stick asap. These items are a "counter" to you, because of two reasons. First of all, you will be using Chakra Magic whenever possible, and the enemies will get a free charge even if you cast it up to 1600 range away. Secondly, the enemies will get a charge on their Wand/Stick when you cast your Illuminate, notifying them of it, so it basically makes Illuminate useless if you are facing decent opponents.

Guide To Bone Fletcher

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:35:00 +0000

Bone Fletcher: Close Up

Before We Begin:

Ah, yes. Bone Fletcher. He's been around since the early stages of DotA, and has been relatively unchanged and untouched ever since. A lot of people probably started off playing him, before moving on to other heroes. I know I did. This guide is for newbie players and pro players alike, so don't be shy to be reading this no matter what gaming experience you have.

Table of Contents:

1. Hero Breakdown
-1.1: General Statistics
-1.2: Miscellaneous
-1.3: Skills
-1.3.1: Skill Tree
-1.4: The Good and the Bad
-1.5: Roles in Battle

2. The Three Phases of Gameplay
-2.1: Early game
-2.1.1: Item purchase
-2.1.2: Gameplay
-2.2: Mid-game
-2.2.1: Item purchase
-2.2.2: Gameplay
-2.3: End-game
-2.3.1: Item purchase
-2.3.2: Gameplay

3. Habits of a Good Fletcher

4. Allies and Enemies
-4.1: Allies
-4.2: Enemies

1. Hero Breakdown

1.1 General Statistics

Strength: 15 + 1.6
Agility: 22 + 3
Intelligence: 16 + 1.55

HP (at start): 435
Mana (at start): 208
Damage (at start): 37-43
Armor (at start): 2.1
Attack range: 600

1.2 Miscellaneous

Background Story:

The fire that kindles eternally on the visage of the fallen Elven Archer proves to others that his undeath was a mere genesis. Clinkz seeks perfection in the arts of fletching and never hesitates in sacrificing his own allies for the cause. Still retaining his ability to move with the wind, he is ready to slay the enemy officers with his swiftness and precision in archery. The Fletcher fires arrows that scorch the target with the heat of the Underworld, bringing them closer and closer to their peril. An elvish archer in life, a nightmare in death.

Other names for Bone Fletcher:
bf, clinkz, bone, fletcher

1.3 Skills

Strafe

Fire a large amount of arrows in a short time period. 90% increased attack speed.

Level 1: Lasts 4 seconds.
Level 2: Lasts 6 seconds.
Level 3: Lasts 8 seconds.
Level 4: Lasts 10 seconds.

Manacost: 90
Cooldown: 60/50/40/30

Notes:
This is, at mid-game till endgame, your killer skill. It allows you to fire 90% faster for a whopping 10 seconds, for no penalty at all, for just 90 mana. There is no casting animation, therefore it can be triggered without any delay. Note that despite what playdota has stated on the site, there is NO animation on Bone Fletcher when Strafe is activated, at least none that I have seen. The only clue of whether or not this skill is active on your hero is only on the status bar, where a shimmering icon of Strafe can be seen, so be careful of when it disappears.

Despite popular, contrary belief, this skill is NOT required in your early game stats. I will explain, later.

Searing Arrows

Increases the damage of the Hero's attack by adding fire.

Level 1: Additional 20 damage
Level 2: Additional 30 damage
Level 3: Additional 40 damage
Level 4: Additional 50 damage

Manacost: 8
Cooldown: 2/0/0/0

Notes:
Searing Arrows is the best farming tool you have in your arsenal in early game. With practice and a good sense of projectile movement, last hits will always be yours with this handy skill. Ever since they buffed the skill in 6.66, you have no cooldown at all starting from hero level 3. This is wonderful news, and abuse it to ascertain your victory.

Note that Searing Arrows deal physical damage. Armor reduction is considered in the final damage calculation. This makes your best targets to be most Intelligence heroes and a select few Strength heroes, because they have not much armor to speak of. Agility heroes will be less affected by this due to the fact that they have naturally high Agility gains, and therefore naturally higher armor. Not that this should stop you from harassing them.

***Thanks to everyone who pointed this fact out to me in the first edition of this guide. Sorry about that.***

Another note about this spell is that when manual casted, it counts as a SPELL. Therefore, you CAN attack when Frostbitten/Overgrowthed/Decryptified, simply by manual casting Searing Arrows. Interestingly enough, this does not work if Pugna casts Decryptify on himself.

Windwalk

Turn invisible for a period of time, increasing movement speed.

Level 1: Lasts 20s, increases movespeed by 10%
Level 2: Lasts 25s, increases movespeed by 20%
Level 3: Lasts 30s, increases movespeed by 30%
Level 4: Lasts 35s, increases movespeed by 40%

Manacost: 75
Cooldown: 20s

Notes:
This skill is officially your best friend. Ever.

With just Power Treads and a Level 4 Windwalk activated, you have a movespeed of 504. That's faster than most heroes can ever achieve. Not only that, you turn invisible and you gain 0 unit collision (meaning you pass through other units). Therefore, this means that they can buy all the truesight they want, but if they can't catch you it's meaningless.

As with most invisibility, doing anything breaks the Windwalk effect on you. This includes casting spells and attacking. Take note that even attempting to attack will break Windwalk. In my experience, it is possible to cancel an attack before invisibility is broken. This is done by cancelling the attack animation just before Fletcher releases his arrow. This means that Fletcher can reach back, draw an arrow and nock his bow, and you can still cancel it. This gets progressively harder to do as your attack speed increases.

Death Pact

Kills target unit, regaining a percentage of its life.

Level 1: Converts 50% of HP of target to health
Level 2: Converts 100% of HP of target to health
Level 3: Converts 150% of HP of target to health

Manacost: 100
Cooldown: 20

Notes:
This skill, being your ultimate, is a bit of a letdown after all the attack based skills you have in the previous 3 skill slots, but never underestimate the power of Death Pact.

Ever since an upgrade in 6.6x (I forget), Death Pact has not only been able to be casted on Neutral and Allied creeps, but on Enemy creeps as well. This is a critical issue, but I will explain that later. This skill is what keeps you in lane for so long, and will be the source of your HP in early game through mid game.

Note that any enemy or neutral creeps you Death Pact (commonly referred to as "eating") will count as a creep kill, and you gain EXP and gold for doing it, while any allied creeps you "eat" will count as a deny and any enemy heroes in range will naturally gain less EXP from that creep.

Also, Death Pact converts a percentage of the creep's current health, not max health. Keep this in mind when selecting creeps to cast this on.

1.3.1 Skill Tree

This is my recommended skill tree for the Bone Fletcher. Note that this is OPTIONAL, and the guide does not STRICTLY require you to learn the following skills in the exact same order as what I am writing down here. You are free to experiment to which skills learned when suits you the most, and this is the one I'm most comfortable with. Please note, however, that Searing Arrows should be maxxed out as your first skill, as only an insane player would not max out your best early game skill first.

Level 1: Searing Arrows/Windwalk*
Level 2: Searing Arrows/Windwalk*
Level 3: Searing Arrows
Level 4: Stats
Level 5: Searing Arrows
Level 6: Death Pact
Level 7: Searing Arrows
Level 8: Stats
Level 9: Stats
Level 10: Strafe
Level 11: Death Pact
Level 12: Strafe
Level 13: Strafe
Level 14: Strafe
Level 15: Windwalk
Level 16: Windwalk
Level 17: Windwalk
Level 18: Stats/Death Pact**
Level 19: Stats
Level 20: Stats
Level 21: Stats
Level 22: Stats
Level 23: Stats
Level 24: Stats
Level 25: Stats/Death Pact**

Rationale:

All right, here's the breakdown on the skill tree.

Note that at level 1, I placed a * to mark it. This is because you should NOT learn any skill at all at the very beginning of the game. It is not uncommon for people to attempt a First Blood via ambush or simply sending 3 people to a single lane for it. In this case, you do NOT want to be a Level 1 Bone Fletcher with Searing Arrows as your only skill. Therefore, before inputting any skill points into any skill at level 1, take stock of your surroundings and who you're facing, then decide.

QUESTION! Why no Windwalk, or Strafe?

In the very early game, Bone Fletcher does not require much more than a Level 1 Windwalk, mainly because it is extremely unlikely that you will require the extra movespeed to give chase to another person for that last hit, provided they are decent players of any sort. In fact, Windwalk will mostly be required only to enter invisibility for that precious few seconds to escape imminent death, where you can regroup at your tower or go back to your fountain for healing. Therefore, waste not stat points in Windwalk.

The same theory goes for Strafe, although for a different reason. In the very early game, you have no need for Strafe. Sure, you gain extra 90% attack speed for 4~6 seconds, but with that kind of damage it's not going to make much of a difference. Searing Arrows is powerful, yes, but in the early stages when it's still at Level 1 or 2, it's basically just a minor upgrade to your damage. Your attack speed isn't all that fantastic either, so an extra 90% won't amount to much, maybe 2 or 3 extra arrow hits or low to medium damage. With a 90 manacost, you can hardly afford that in early game.

The Bone Fletcher's weakness is fragility. With a starting HP of less than 500, you're easy food for any powerful nukers that will go your way. Therefore, you need some outside assistance, namely, stats. Don't input skill points into Strafe and Windwalk in early game; they're not all that useful. Go for some stat points instead; don't scoff at the 38 HP. It just might save your bony behind in a pinch.

That was a little long, but I wanted to go into detail. Next section.

1.4 The Good and the Bad

There are many upsides and downsides to playing any hero in DotA, and Bone Fletcher is no exception. Here's a summary.

THE GOOD:

-Best invisibility in the game. Longest duration with a relatively short cooldown, and a whopping great movespeed modifier to boot.

-Only orb effect in game that can damage buildings. Manual castable on buildings, which will make them ignore you (Unless you're the only unit in range). Cheapest orb, too.

-High damage due to Searing Arrows lets you farm VERY easily, and gives you access to powerful lane control.

-Very high damage output

THE BAD:

-Highly fragile in terms of HP

-Extremely mana-intensive for an Agility hero with low Intelligence gain

-Lack of nuke makes it hard sometimes to kill

1.4 Roles in Battle

After highlighting all that, I think it's pretty clear to everyone that the Bone Fletcher was designed specifically to be the DPS of the group. He is a hero that needs protection, all the way till he grows strong enough to fend for himself, and even then he requires good support from his team to pull through.

When in a major clash, avoid being in the center of everything. You're not meant to be there. Much like Sniper/Drow Ranger, stay on the outside of the battle and keep those Searing Arrows flying. Pick out those you can easily take down in a few shots, and reduce their number from 5 to 4 heroes as soon as you can. Leave the disabling to your team, and concentrate your fire on one guy to take him down fast.

Before clashing, try to stay behind, but not behind your team, behind theirs. That's where the support heroes usually hang out, letting their tanks do their job of taking all the hits. This can be accomplished easily via Windwalk and smart usage of the forest. This also puts you out of the way of all those AOE ultimates like Echo Slam and Chain Frost, leaving you relatively unharmed by the nukes of the enemy team. Note that if the enemy has true sight, it would be unwise to hang around an area where they can see you, so make sure you check them for Gem/Dust/Wards first.

2. The Three Phases of Gameplay

2.1 Early Game

2.1.1 Items

Note that these items are assuming you picked Bone Fletcher, not randomed him.

At game start, you should have enough cash on hand to purchase 2 Circlets of Nobility and 2 sets of Tango of Essafication. You will need a lot of circlets later on, so head out there and start farming.

As stated earlier, the Bone Fletcher is not exactly very strong in the HP department. Therefore, to remedy this situation, go for Wraith Bands. One Wraith Band costs 460 gold apiece. Mass them, for they are your source of HP, damage and mana for your early till mid game. Purchase four of them if you can, but if you can't farm out 4 Wraith Bands, make sure you have at least 3.

A lot of people choose to forego these awesome items and go straight for stuff like Demon Edge and Eaglehorn, but that is folly. Four Wraith Bands provide you with 228 HP, 24 damage, 24% attack speed and 156 mana. These stats are what will help you survive your early game well.

Note that as and when you can, purchase items using your Circle of Power. Do not wait till you have to go back to base to buy these items, just in case you die and lose the gold. Common sense, but I thought I'd say it anyway. Treads can be wholly made at the side shops, but if you're in mid lane then form Treads with your Circle too.

2.1.2 Gameplay

Your job in early game is not to kill, but to farm and survive. Therefore, concentrate your energy on making sure that you get most, if not all of your last hits. This is made easier by the presence of Searing Arrows. When you're not trying for a last hit, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT attempt to attack the creeps to lower their HP. This not only gives the enemy chance to deny you, but also makes your creeps push that much faster towards the enemy tower. You do not want that. As much as possible, stick to your own tower.

This is not to say that you should spend your time idling away while waiting for last hits to pop up in front of you. Once you reach level 3, start manual casting Searing Arrows on the enemy heroes. This is a pain, as they have no real way of hitting you back without causing your creeps targeting them. Abuse this to your heart's content, just ensure that you remember to get your last hits.

When faced with an undesirable situation, for example you're 1 hero facing 2, go for a more defensive approach. Remember, survival. It doesn't work out in your favour if you get a kill just to be killed off by the second hero, because the only real guy who benefits is the second hero who killed you. Stick to purely last hitting and denying creeps, and try to bring the waves as close to your tower as you can so you can hug and farm at the same time. If they come to harass you, throw them a couple of Searing Arrows right back, if you know you can get away with just a few scratches. Don't let them think they can harass you for free all the time, or they'll be doing it so often you won't farm at all. Prevention is better than cure, after all.

Always ensure you have 75 mana left in your mana pool to cast Windwalk. The moment you spot danger of any kind coming your way, get ready to press that W button. The moment an enemy hero appears, or you suspect a hero is going to make his appearance, turn invisible and wait things out first. Again, survival is key.

In some games, you will encounter people who purchase Sentry Wards in the early levels, say 3~4. This should not be likely because you shouldn't be casting Windwalk much, but you will find some paranoid people around. When they do, continuously check their inventory, and watch for when the ward count goes down. This means they have planted a ward. You now know the general area of the ward, and when it will expire. Keep these in mind and play cautiously until the ward expires.

After you reach level 9 or so, you should have your 4 Wraith Bands and Power Treads ready and waiting. At this point, early game is over for you, and you enter mid game.

2.2 Mid game

2.2.1 Items

OR

The first damage element in your item build. Go for the damage first, so you can start killing people. Depending on which you got, form either an MKB or a Butterfly.

2.2.2 Gameplay

The start of mid game is more or less the same of your early game. Farm, farm and farm some more. Unless your team is feeding so badly in the other lanes that you have to do something about it, ignore them and go in with your life in your chosen lane, but be more alert for incoming ganks, as in mid game people will tend to gank more and more. Pay attention to the minimap, and when your ally says that an enemy is missing, start being cautious. Stay away from the river side, and hug your tower if you think is necessary.

Once you farm out your first damage item, either Demon Edge or Eaglehorn depending on the situation, start becoming aggressive. Abandon your lane of choice and start hunting people down. This should be around level 13, 12 if your farming was exceptionally good. Employ the help of your team mates, and don't feel bad about taking the last hit from hero kills, because you really do need that cash. Target low HP heroes, mainly the support and the DPS, and you should be able to take them down within 6-8 hits by yourself. When a tower falls, try to get within 1000 radius of it; you get extra gold just by being there. If all goes well, you will get Butterfly/MKB by level 15 or 16, and that's when you start owning the game proper.

2.3 End game

2.3.1 Items

Now that you've reached this point, you should pretty much be owning the game. In the case where you aren't, consider going for a BKB to offset those pesky nukes that are killing you off before you can kill THEM off. Or get a Buriza for that extra damage, or a Satanic for that matter, because Searing Arrows loses it's effectiveness nearing the end game. However, there is one item on the list that you HAVE to get, and that is this.

Orchid Malevolence. This baby gives you more damage, more attack speed, a 5 second silence so that stupid QOP can't blink away, but most important of all, 225% mana regen. You need this. As stated before, Bone Fletcher is a VERY mana intensive hero. Every last one of his skills is active, and Strafe isn't helping much since it means you're depleting your mana pool faster. Once your mana's gone, well, there goes your ability to Windwalk and heal, and chances are there goes your life too. With an Orchid Malevolence in hand, you can more or less turn Searing Arrows on and leave it on, provided you don't keep casting Strafe. Your mana goes up, and so does your chance of survival too.

2.3.2 Gameplay

Basically, you are the killer now. Da MAN. But do not fall into the trap of thinking that you are all-powerful; three heroes with good nukes and stuns can still tear you apart like a rag-doll. Pick off stragglers as and when you can, stick with your team and perform ganks, and when pushing as a team scout ahead and in the forest with your invisibility. Just be careful of any truesight they might have.

3. Habits of a Good Fletcher

A) Always ensure that at all times, you can cast Windwalk. This not only entails keeping a sharp eye for enemy heroes, but also making sure that before you exit Windwalk to attack an enemy, your cooldown is over. Windwalk lasts 35s while its cooldown is 20s. It is therefore possible to pop out, ambush an enemy, then disappear before they realize you were hitting them again. Never ever exit Windwalk before your cooldown is done, unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure that you can get away with it.

B) Abuse the fact that you have a castable orb effect. Especially in the early game, "orb-walking", as I term it, can be very helpful. There are many names for this procedure, I believe.

For those who don't know, "orb-walking" is done as follows. Using the Searing Arrows hotkey (R), manual cast on the enemy. Once the arrow leaves your bow, immediately start walking towards the enemy, canceling any waiting time for your attack cooldown. Once you're sure you can fire again, repeat the process. This not only bypasses enemy creep aggro, but also helps you to keep within range of the target, should he run away from you.

C) Keep an eye out for True Sight on the enemy team. I cannot stress this enough. Whenever you see a hero for the first time after a period of time, check his inventory. Just a cursory glance will do; just to make sure he has no dust/gem/sentry wards/Necronomicon level 3. If you see any of these items, stay FAR FAR away from them, or wait for an ally to initiate a gank before you go in. Never ever attempt to kill a hero with true sight, because you can't know where his allies are. Who knows but that Shadow Shaman is lurking somewhere waiting to turn you into a chicken?

D) Know when and how to break Windwalk. This might seem to be a simple matter of attacking someone, but it is important to choose a location to do it as well. Here are some screenshots to show you an example.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 798x407.

This is example of Bone Fletcher ambushing Dwarven Sniper at the bottom Sentinel first tower. As you can see, Fletcher is attempting to cut off Sniper's back route and pin him against the tower, but if you were Sniper, would you REALLY run backwards through Fletcher, or attempt to escape through the left via the forest? Chances are, Sniper will attempt to use the forest to his advantage, and Fletcher's chances of killing Sniper lowers considerably due to blasted Fog of War.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 798x477.

This is the same example, taken in the same place with the same settings. By positioning himself halfway across both routes, Sniper will be forced to run through Fletcher's range either way. In many cases, you will have only one chance to kill a hero; don't waste it by putting yourself in a bad spot.

E) This is a point many Fletcher players overlook. Death Pact has -no- requirement on casting, save that there be a creep around you before you can cast it. Therefore, when you're duking it out with an enemy hero mano-a-mano, do not forget about this spell. Many people neglect the existence of this spell and end up paying with their lives for it. Before you decide that a battle's lost and you attempt to Windwalk, try "eating" a creep first, and see if that turns the tide in your favour. Of course, before doing so, ensure you will still have mana to Windwalk. Rule number 1 still applies.

4. Allies and Enemies

4.1 Allies

Basically, any good ally you have would be support based. Stuns, nukes, damage amplifiers, silence, the works. Stick to these bosom friends of yours, and remember to thank them after you grab all the kills.

Disablers

Basically, heroes like these are your best friends.

Damage amplifiers

Heroes like these help to boost your attack damage. It's always good to have heroes like these on your team, because they help you to kill that much more efficiently.

4.2 Enemies

These two heroes are your mortal enemies in early game, simply because of Mana Burn and Mana Break. Fletcher NEEDS his mana in early game, because without that golden 75 mana to windwalk with he's just food waiting to be eaten. These two stop you from doing that, and subsequently own you in the process.

Heroes like these have one point in common, and that is silence. Once you're silenced, it means no spells, no windwalk, no Death Pact, no life. You're almost always dead when Doom Bringer casts Doom on you, because you can't do anything but try to run. Keep an eye out for these heroes.

Note: Searing Arrows does not trigger Last Word, but also does not remove Curse of the Silent.

Guide To Broodmother

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:34:00 +0000

.......

Introduction
This hero underwent quite a few changes over course of a year. Initially a forgotten hero, she rose to popularity when his Lifesteal Ultimate was buffed immensely (20sec duration, 60/45/30secs cd per lvl. Another contributing buff was her reduced attack animation, which means easier animation cancelling while chasing). Much rage ensued in the old forum, the majority begging Icefrog to nerf this hero. And nerfed she was.
Albeit being nerfed, she still managed to show herself in the competitive scene from time to time.

During the early days in the scene, she was built more towards a pure carry. The typical build was maxing Bite for early game ganking power. Building up Treads + BKB + Butterfly and carrying the team to victory. Brood getting banned every single game was a norm back then. It was clear that more nerfing was needed, and so her Ultimate was nerfed from 20secs to 12secs. Around that time, teams who were still using brood in their lineup converted to a Pusher playstyle, making Spiderlings to take out towers. As more and more teams gets accustomed to playing against brood (and upon developing decent counters), we see less of her nowadays. That and the ever changing metagame in the competitive scene meant she will disappear once again like our dearest Pitlord.

Changelog Summary:
*2 of her skills remained unchanged, namely Spawn Spiderlings and Incapacitating Bite
*Web once had true sight and cost 140mana. Now it no longer has true sight, has reduced vision but grants higher movespeed bonus and cost 50mana with lower CD as well (30secs at lvl 4)
*Hunger (Ultimate) went through a series of changes. Once it had 60secs CD at all levels, then reduced to 45secs. Soon after, it was changed again to 60/45/30sec. At this point, many were crying imbalanced all over the forums. Over the nerfing process, the bonus dmg + lifesteal was reduced, the duration was reduced from 20 to 12 secs (biggest nerf) while the CD was changed back to 60/45/30.
*Improvement in her attack animation was one of the biggest buff on her.
*Improvement to BKB. No longer cancels Hunger upon activation
*Was once a very strong jungler prior to the neutral creep changes around v6.51. Her solid laning ability overshadows her viability as a jungler however.
*In v6.60, changed spiderling's armor type from medium to normal and now take damage from first towers (50->100 %)

What is this Guide about?
There are 3 kinds of Brood Playstyle.
A pure Solo Carry, a Jungler and a Pusher. The era of a solo carry is over, you won't see Brood maxing Bite for early game ownage anymore. Jungler Brood is quite ridiculous if you ask me. That was so 2 years ago. So this guide will be about Pusher Brood. If you like to know more on how to play a Solo Carry or Jungler, feel free to ask though.
I know alot of people like to base on Competitive Builds for viable builds. Now that is bad. You can take insights from what they build, and try to understand the reasons as to why the items are chosen. Never take them whole, as they are not always right.

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Skill Build
1) Web
2) Bite
3) Spiderlings
4) Spiderlings
5) Spiderlings
6) Hunger
7) Spiderlings

*Upon maxing spiderlings, you can either max up Web or Bite next. I usually go for Bite, but when faced with a high stun/disable team, I'd go for Web first for a more passive play. Going head-on biting stunner heroes can be non-productive
*Level Hunger whenever available, leave stats last

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Skill Information: Black Arachnia DotA Hero - DotA Allstars Official Websites

Spiderling Tips:
*Hit the Ranged Creep once before nuking him with a Lvl 4 Spiderling
*When pushing, send 1-2 spiderlings across the map (into the forest or fogged regions) to scout for enemies. Eg. if you are pushing Btm lane, send spiderlings to cut through the forest into mid lane. Chances are, some enemy heroes are coming from that direction to defend the btm lane.
*If your spiders are idling, send them to the forest to kill creeps
*If they are still idling, send them to towers to backdoor

Web Tips:
*Never place webs side by side, space them apart around 1500 Range from each other. Ensures better coverage
*Can destroy trees. Used for escaping, chasing (making shortcuts), Anti-Juke, destroy Treant's Eye, etc
*Can be used for Rune vision, but note the limited vision (150AoE). You must place it directly on the rune location.
*You can create web prior to ganking if you feel the invisibility buff will help in initiating the attack. Better yet is to create the web in their escape route, so you get a speed boost as you pass by your own web when chasing down the stragglers.

Bite:
*At higher levels, avoid chasing a hero with your spiderlings. They tend to block you, unless you have phase boots.
*Have a habit to "animation cancel" as you chase the enemy. You will land more hits that way.
*If you lose chase, drop a web for a speed boost to catch up with the enemy.

Hunger
*At early levels, you can use it for extra dps when taking down towers
*Watch out for heroes with diffusal, it will purge your lifesteal.
*BKB will not dispel your Hunger, so always hunger first before BKB.

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Gameplay Summary:
1 -- Create 2 webs at mid lane
2 -- Eat lone tree to buy your Mana Booster (nice tactic if you are playing as Scourge)
3 -- Create web here to Anti-juke your fleeing enemy solo if needed.
4 -- Lay webs here during pushes. More vision for you and your allies.
5 -- Destroy these trees with web for easier access of neutral camps. Hang around the jungle and farm if you have nothing else to do
6 -- When enemy is pushing, you sneak into their base and swarm with spiderlings.

Gameplay
To play a pusher brood is simple. Push them before they push you. To do so, you must push earlier than them and keep the pressure going. Early game, you will buy these few items:

-- 2x tangoes
-- 4x clarities
-- 4x branches

After that:

-- Bracers if necessary, usually you won't need since you will hiding under webs most of the time.
-- Flasks mainly for self-healing and for allies. You have lifesteal but that requires creeps to suck, and is usually a slow process. You need to push fast.
-- TP scrolls, to jump to another lane once you are done with the towers in the current one.

You can be flexible with the type of boots to buy,
Treads -- The +30% ias is helpful early game when used with Hunger. Usually, I will set treads to strength for the extra +HP.
Phase boots -- You get better chasing power with phase since you will no longer be blocked (by own spiderlings or creeps). Useful during late game when teamfights get messy
Travels -- Travels is nice if you want to abuse the Pushing Brood playstyle. It allows you to respond to opportunities immediately. Like for example, the whole enemy team is pushing mid, you can immediately jump to the bottom lane and ninja their raxxes.

Why an Arcane Ring?
For sustainable pushing.
To spam spiderlings like no tomorrow and overwhelm your opponents. Push early while their AoE nukes are still weak to counter your spiderlings. Why not Vlads? It is an unneeded item. Pubbers always get this because they see competitive players get them too! Your spiderlings don't need the extra armor, they are expendables. You can always spawn a new one. Brood doesn't need the extra lifesteal lol. The mana regeneration (0.80) is pathetic. Arcane gives 3.33/sec, along with a 300mana boost.

The Alternative Item: Orchid is commonly made in competitive games (for the mana regen) when playing the pusher playstyle. It works well throughout the game, unlike Arcane Ring. However, Orchid lacks the mana pool bonus and the build-up is pretty slow. For 1700 gold, Arcane provides an immediate boost to your pushing power. In lower-level games, a sudden push and dominance during early game can severely cripple the enemy team for the entire game. And that,.. is what we want to achieve with an Arcane Brood.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Game starts
Head to mid lane to solo. Create your first web near your tower. The second web will be near the enemy tower. See the picture above. Your first task is to get enough money for a mana booster (1000gold). Last hit for gold, and harass at every opportunity. Once you have that amount, head to the lone tree, eat it, move in a few steps and wait for the fog to clear. You will see Secret Shop merchant, buy the Mana Booster from him. This strategy allows you not having to leave your lane for too long.

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There will be two types Solos you will face. An AoE and non-AoE hero. Non-Aoe Heroes are easy to handle. Typical examples are Tinker, Sniper, Zeus, Lich (AoE but low dmg). You can spawn spiderlings to swarm them. They will most likely retreat to they second tower, if they dont, your spiders will most likely harass them to red health. Finish off with your nuke.
For AoE type heroes (eg. KotL, SF, Necrolyte, Pitlord, DP, Leshrac) you can try to clean them off with the same method. Swarm them with spiders. I can't exactly explain to you how to handle them, try watching the replays. If he is too strong, abandon the lane and push the side lanes. Call for an ally to take your place in Mid.

The next strategy that follows is to push the Btm and Mid lane, while leaving top for your carry. Do this only once all the outer towers have been destroyed. Hang around in their jungle and farm.

The best way to push is to push when the enemy are busy doing something. Eg, pushing your towers as a team or engaging in a teamfight. Use this opportunity to strike their base. If the game allows backdooring, you may choose to backdoor, if it doesn't, you can push the lane which is about to enter the enemy base.

Other items:

*Aim for BKB if you are facing a nuker/stunner/disabler team
*Go straight for Butterfly if you feel you can handle the stuns/nukes w/o magic immunity
*Still having cash? Go for anything else you like survivability or DPS items, except items with orb effects.

If they keep stalling your pushes, keep farming for your DPS items and win the game as a carry.

Notable Allies:
1) CM -- You can forgo Arcane Ring if you have her in your team.
2) Lycan -- His howl will increase your spiderlings' dmg potential by a mile. Nice to have, but by no means necessary to have him in your team.

Broodmother Counters:
1) Diffusal -- Purge destroys your lifesteal
2) Axe -- considered to be one of the strongest counters to spiderlings. An Axe with vanguard cannot be kill by spiderlings. Avoid him and push other lanes.
3) Strong AoE nukers -- Shadow friend, Tormented Soul, Pitlord etc will screw up your pushes. If there are too many of them in the enemy lineup, don't pick Broodmother!

Conclusion
Again, the entire strategy of an Arcane Pusher Brood is to get the Ring fast and push. Take out the outer towers. If everything goes well, all towers can be down by the 15th min. Keep up the pressure, while your other carries farm up. Look at the replays if you are still unsure. If you have decent allies, you will not lose.

And thanks for reading

Guide to the Faceless Void

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:34:00 +0000

TaO Instructions, Click on a paragraph to get there.
Click on the paragraph's picture to get back.

Introduction

Links & Videos

Analysis

Mechanics

Items

Skills

Skill & Item Build

Skill Build

Item Build

Used Items

Situational items

Rejected Items

Strategy

Early Game

After MoM

After Butter

Using Time Walk

Proper Chronoing

Chrono Pictures

Art of Ganking

Teamplay section

Supporting heroes

Chrono heroes

Enemies and Things to Avoid

Things to Avoid

Replays

>Intro

Links & Videos

Nekdolan's other videos on youtube!
Faceless void's skills and stats

Anal

Faceless Void is a very fragile agility carry hero. Starts with very few hp, but good base damage. Getting farm at early stages is not hard, it is risky. You might just get harassed to death and lose a lot of xp/gold while you go heal at fountain or wait for provisions on your courier or are even dead. Scoring kills at the early phase of the game is pleasing, but it is very hard for you. When at ganks, you are suposed to fight, just don't overdo it or you'll get killed and lose gold/xp. Play it safe, get your gold when possible, do your role.

At the mid game, you are suposed to keep farming until your ult is ready, then either TP to gank or call for a gank on your lane. You are not suposed to be fighting for farm against your enemies, go to an empty lane and farm. Pay close attention to the map so that you can evade ganks and make ganks yourself.

[center]Mecha

Skills

Time Walk:

Level 1: 120 mana, 13 cooldown, 700 cast range, 300 AoE, 10% slow.

Level 2: 120 mana, 13 cooldown, 900 cast range, 300 AoE, 20% slow.

Level 3: 120 mana, 13 cooldown, 1100 cast range, 300 AoE, 30% slow.

Level 4: 120 mana, 13 cooldown, 1300 cast range, 300 AoE, 40% slow.

It has a short casting time when void raises his hands. When you travel you become invulnerable so you won't take damage and cannot be targeted. This skill is similar to morphling's waveform. When TW is finished there's a small period when you cannot issue commands to faceless! Since you don't have channeling spells just repeat the same command until void moves again. TW can be used under some spells like: ensnare/bite and those that are similar to these two.

Backtrack:

Level 1: 10% chance.

Level 2: 15% chance.

Level 3: 20% chance.

Level 4: 25% chance.

Whenever faceless receives damage (if the damage is above 6) there's a chance that this skill will trigger and that it will heal void back. This skill won't evade stuns even if the damage is backtracked! Silence and Doom and hex won't disable this skill! Actually nothing can. Bactrack is one of the most relaiable skills of dota! A disabled skill (most passives can be disabled) has a chane of 0% to work while BT 25% from level 7 till the end of the game.

Time Lock:

Level 1: 10% chance per attack. 40 damage.

Level 2: 15% chance per attack, 50 damage.

Level 3: 20% chance per attack, 60 damage.

Level 4: 25% chance per attack, 70 damage.

It is the same as melee bash. The damage it deals is magical and avatar can block it, but the stun effect will work even if it doesn't deal damage. The effect lasts twice as long on creeps and half on Roshan.

Chronosphere:

Level 1: 3 Seconds, 150 mana, 120 cooldown, 500 cast range, 425 AoE.

Level 2: 4 Seconds, 175 mana, 110 cooldown, 550 cast range, 425 AoE.

Level 3: 5 Seconds, 200 mana, 100 cooldown, 600 cast range, 425 AoE.

This spell has a 0.5 casting time and there's another little pause before it will stop the units. This spell only stops units and will never stop spells. Of course it will stop channeling since it is the same as a long duration stun. Avatar won't work against this either. This skill won't stop: omnislash, wards and spirits (like Exorcism) after they've been casted.

[Build

Skill Build
.
1. Time Walk
2. Backtrack
3. Time Walk
4. Backtrack/Time Lock
5. Time Walk
6. Chronosphere
7. Time Walk
8. Backtrack
9. Backtrack
10. Time Lock/Backtrack
11. Chronosphere
12. Time Lock
13. Time Lock
14. Time Lock

Time Walk has its obvious use to dodge enemy ganks and get into allied ganks. Backtrack is the follow up for having a safer time farming, building a little bit tankiness, so that you can stand more harassing and farm longer.
A rank of Time Lock can be skilled for ganking purposes. Also, it may just come in handy for farming because it gives you a little extra damage every now and then.

Starting Items

OR

Early Items

Optional: OR

PT Wand are the best fitting survival boosting items for Void. PT gives you IAS and stats for a very cheap price, Wand is good on the majority of heroes, I would say all the heroes benefit of it. TPs for aiding on team battles you have the upper hand on it.

Follow-Up Items

OR/AND

Extension/Luxury Items

[Strat
[/size]

Early Game

Take the upper lane on scourge, or the lower one if you are with the sentinel. The next thing you should know is creep controlling, which is essential for voids lane management. The most important thing next to denies, and last hit is this! Creep control is about to lure the creeps under your tower using their scripted AI. This will screw the enemies framing, since they won't be able to last hit effectively. The next part is very important! There are only two guides including this that explains. Remember this is not creep pulling!

Creep Lure Technic:

Basics: creep, and tower AI: If you are close to the melee creeps, and you issue an attack command against the enemy hero the creeps will start to attack you. Because of that your own creeps will attack the other creeps. If the creeps are close to you, and the tower isn't attacking the enemy hero they will follow you even if the tower is hitting them. The towers priority is: those that attack the allied hero, the one that attacks the tower, the one that is close. This is all you have to know to accomplish the following movements:

If enemy creeps are coming for the tower and your creeps are still far, then: Stand next to the tower with the Hold Position key and when the creeps get close start to run backwards until you reach your own wave. If the enemy attacks the tower the tower will fight back, since no one else is hitting it, and you are already far away.
.
If the fighting is close to your towers attack range then you could lure the creeps by attacking the hero (you don't need to hit him!) and running instantly backwards. This will draw all creeps towards your tower thanks to the simple AI. If you are close enough to the creeps they will attack you, even if you targeted the hero on the other side of the map.

Example:

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You can see that this trick is pretty useful. Sometimes I start it from halfway between the two towers, and end up farming at my own tower. I haven’t seen anyone do this in games, so I think players don't really know about it. We may receive some hits by luring the creeps, but it is regenerated pretty fast and backtrack might evade it.

Depending on the heroes you face, and the players agression you have to play a passive or a farming style. Passive style is used to stay in XP range and out of spell/attack range. You are suposed to wait until the creepwawe reaches their safety zone (tower) where you will be able to farm a bit. When using this style you have to match your movement to the enemies and maintain the distance, as much as possible. Otherwise you may get killed. Time walk can save you one time, but it doesn't give you any hp regen to stay in lane longer. Remember this: you may lose more by being greedy epecially when one creep kill means half of your hp! If the enemy group don't play agressively, then you can use the farming playstyle. Concentrate on lasthits and lane deny. As long as no creep can be last hitted attack your own creeps under half hp to draw the lane towards your tower!

Help your ally if possible. You can time walk to an enemy slowing its move speed so that your friend might escape. Be careful this is a double edged sword, since the next target is obviously you! Never stand still! Move forward and back or move vertically, but try to remain in xp range. Standing units are targets. They get easily ganked, harassed, hooked. You can use time walk to avoid some annoying spell like the lich or Yurnero's ulti, and it's good (yet expensive) against impetus.

Mid Game

You can do three things at this time: push/farm neutrals/gank

If the wave is already at the enemies tower, then go and kill some neutrals. If they try to gank you while you are killing neutrals (they have wards), don't worry! With time walk you should be able to get away. Help in team fights, but don't die if possible! If you have time to farm, and you see no chance to be ganked then you can bother with last hits. If you don't kill creeps enough you won't farm anything before you are ganked. Simply start frenzy when the first creep gets below half hp. This will push our lane towards the enemy. As I sad earlier when we get close to the enemy, go back and farm neutrals. During your period of neutral creeping, the enemies will most likely push back, and when the creepwave gets big enough go back there, and start the process all over. If an enemy is farming on your lane call for a gank or move to another lane.

Farming neutrals:

The true power of MoM is farming, and farming fast so that you can move on to the next creep camp. We will do this pretty often if there are no free lanes for pushing. Always keep one finger on "w", so in case you are ganked you can escape instantly! The damage from ganks (if avoided with TW = you didn't die) can (should) be regained by killing neutrals. After that go back to push...

Excaping:

Running away with MoM? It sounds stupid, but it's pretty effective to save you. First you Time Walk away and after that you maintain the distance between you and the enemy with frenzy. Since it gives you insane MS and lasts as long as the time-walk's CD you just have to run for 10 sec and TW again.

After Butter(late game)

With proper chronoing, and good team members we can defeat the enemy at their own towers. If the attack is finished and our team is retreating, and we have half of our hp, than we should kill some ancients to regain our hit points. It is unlikely for the enemy to go there, when they need to push back the creep waves, even if, they get there: you always have time walk.

Note:

With butter you can solo roshan without loosing 1 point of hp! That's because the lifesteal from mom will be greater than roshan's damage output. If the enemy team is killing Roshan you can chrono them so you can kill him instead of the enemy. Do this when Roshan has nearly no hp left. Even if you cast chrono late you can steal the aegis and time-walk away.

Using Time Walk

Example

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When chasing an enemy use time walk to block his path. When running away, use any possible terrain obstacle to lose the heat. The slow effect can help you deploy chrono properly. Always think forward! Try to guess the enemies movements. Time walk makes you invulnerable, but you can still use items like MoM.

Spell dodge: Dodging needs three things: no lag, good timeing and a lot off luck. Even though it's hard to do it's still more reliable than backtrack! Just remember that if you try to use time walk over the casting range void will start to walk instead of casting. Some spells may hit even if we manage to escape, if the effect has a longer delay than the time faceless is invulnerable. On the other hand some spells can be avoided without having good tieing since they need to search for targets over time! Omnislash for example or chain frost. Some spells work on invulnerable heroes too! There are two that I know off: Hook and Nether Strike.

Example:

The difference between Time walk & blink:

Although time walk is similar to blink, the differences between the two spells are very important. Blink spells have lower CD, mana cost and no slow effect. In addition if a hero blinks in to fog of war the enemy won't be able to trace him. Time-walk shows the direction in which void travels, so fast heroes like balanar can still catch them! To avoid this there's a simple, but effective trick: If you can travel to the other side of the forest, don't do it instead TW in the forest itself! Since both the forest and the other side is in fog of war for the enemy, they will think that you escaped to the other side, and will continoue to pursue you there. When the coast is clear you can get out of the forest, or use a TP scroll before that. There are spots in forests and on hills, that can be only reached by time walk/blink and thoose around it cannot see this place.

Proper Chronoing

Our goal is to freeze as many enemies as possible. If we can freeze a tower by freezing others, than we should do it, if it's not ours. You should know that the chrono's casting range inproves with level, and there's a little casting time when void raises his hands. Before you use it hit 'c' to see the area of effect, and then right click to cancel it. If you use it after Time Walk, than void might not cast it, because of TW-s order canceling effect). To avoid this hit 'c' and after that left click, and repeat this until you see the bubble. Kind of a stupid way to do it, but it is effective and you can adjust the chrono every time you recast it. To adjust chrono don't bother with the circle you see! Instead concentrate on the units highlighted in green. Because of the strange shape of the circle some highlighted units won't be affected, since they aren't in the circle. The more time it takes to place chrono the less effective it will be. Don't place it if the heroes are too far on the edge of the AOE. This ulti is too good to make one waste. Try to cast chrono so that your team will benefit the most. That means place it as far from than as you can. Ranged heroes can attack the hero in the middle. This is important, so never forget! Placing chrono so that your melee heroes can attack the enemy stuck on the edge is too risky. Always make sure that you catch all the heroes you wanted. If you miss one, then attack him, if your teammates can deal with those caught in chrono.

Who to attack first?

When chrono is placed, and we managed to capture more than one hero, we have to decide which one to get first. Even without chrono we can decide which enemy to attack, since we can get anywhere with time walk. With bash we can disable this hero, so which one to choose is important! So the list goes by this: I. Disablers/stunners, II. Damage dealers, III. Tanks, IV Heroes with Blink. You might also get a hint by reading the "things to avoid" section.
Chrono has great synergy with: Omnislash, Macropyre, Mass Serpent Ward, Exorcism, Poison Nova, Death Ward and with Epicenter plus blink. Here's some extra inf thanks to Rémi "strikes_ is right about Radiance's immolation, it doesn't damage freezed units inside Chronosphere, regardless of the position of Radiance-equiped hero (inside or outside the sphere). The same for similar spells such as Infernal's immolation, Leshrac's Nova, Pudge's Rot..."

Art of Ganking

First of all know that ganking won't give you the same amount of money, which you would gain by farming. Gank is optional.. sometimes is worth it sometimes not. Since you have TW as an escape skill you can farm lanes in a relatively safe status. Ganking-time starts when you have MoM. Ganking is not the same as freezing people with chrono. First of all chrono doesn't last long enough, and secondly it costs too much mana which you will need for TW. Don't start the gank with TW! Just go there, and start hitting one of your opponents. Since in ganks you have the advantage of numbers he (or them) will try to escape. If the enemy can overpower your team, than cast chrono. That is not necessary in most cases, so if you see that the enemy is trying to escape than activate berserk to catch them (no extra damage while you chase). If you still can't get to them, than cast TW to slow them, and to bash them into tiny pieces. Remember this: never start with chrono unless it's a team battle or you need it to overpower the enemy. You will lose many kills if you can't support your timewalk spell with mana! Also if the enemy is lucky enough to reach their tower you will need chrono to freeze both the tower and the hero. With lifesteal you can regain much of your hp under chrono. This is the last reason why you shouldn't rush casting it. Chrono will be great later when teams will move as one, but untill than bash and time-walk is much more effective, because of the small number of heroes in one place. Don't forget: the best way to make a successful gank is called cooperation!

Chrono Pictures

Chrono explained in high detail!

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Team

Supporting heroes

Void is very weak early game, so he will need someone to look after him in higher level games. Most healers can support faceless, but some of them are better than the others.

Chrono heroes

Chrono heroes are the ones that need a long duration AOE disable to work properly, but in return they can deal lots & lots of damage. Since chrono can stop chanelling spells some heroes won't work properly with faceless. Enigma for example. Although Witch Doctor's ultimate is also chaneling he can use it from the outside of chrono.

[Enemy

Disablers (silence, hex, stun, doom, smoke):

We won't be able to cast TW to get to safety, if we get too many of these. We will lose our awesome Chronosphere too. Get BKB if this becomes too troublesome. Doom is an exception since it disables items too along with stun and evasion except backtrack. Backtrack works fine, and if we concentrate on hp we should survive no matter how many stuns we receive. Disable can make you useless. A damage void can be easily killed outside chrono with the help of these. Remember that hit-points and backtrack are the only things you have in all situation. Silence, hex, doom, smoke cannot disable backtrack.

Melee damage counters (blade mails, Tiny):

This is a real pain especially if frenzy is on. Avatar blocks return damage according to the mechanics forum. So buy BKB if they go mass blade mails. Buying Heart also helps with return damage and stuff. As I said avatar blocks it. Never forget that the damage from blade mails can be greater than your own damage! The armor blocks much of your damage, but you will get back the full amount (X percent of it) in magic damage!

Guide to Ancient Apparation

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:32:00 +0000

Stone Cold

Darkjr's guide to Kaldr, The Ancient Apparition

Intro

First, English is not my native language, so feel free to tell me if there is any errors. If you think that something in my guide is not right, leave a comment and I will see. Also, this guide isn’t made for someone that can’t support more than 4 active spells, duh.

Background story

Defeated in a battle long forgotten, this once great mage was banished to a tomb of ice for all eternity. For countless ages he lay in unbearable anguish until he was discovered by minions of the Lich King. In a vain attempt to gain favor with this ancient soul for his own purposes, the Lich King released him. But this soul no longer knew gratitude, it no longer knew friend from foe, it knew only pain. With it's bodylong since decayed, the soul took up the only form it knew. Consumed with hatred, even a touch from this monstrosity causes agony. Able to conjure devastating ice storms with a mere thought and hurl soul-shattering bolts of frost seemingly impossible distances, this creature punishes all who dare to stand their ground against it.

To-do list
I've replied to your comments and will adapt my guide to them whenever I can:
- Test Ice Blast with Skeleton King's Ultimate
- Adapt starting items to Sobi Mask
- Add notes to skills
- Add infos to items
- Remake Ice Blast Mini-Guide
- Make a section for Bloodstone

Changelog

(11/02/2010) - Guide uploaded
(11/02/2010) - Minor changes
(11/02/2010) - Remade the Alt-tab mini-guide
(12/02/2010) – Moved Urn of Shadows to optional core and added Point Booster to situational items
(12/02/2010) – Added a note to Ice Blast and Meepo to Best Allies
(15/02/2010) – Minors fixes
(19/02/2010) - Guide published
(19/04/2010) - I've decided to remake the guide with a new more effective core, Eul's instead of Guinsoo
(19/04/2010) - Guide adapted to V6.67c
(20/04/2010) - Work on things written in comments
(22/04/2010) - Added Mjoft's replay

Table of content

1. Alt-tab mini-guide
2. Stats
3. Pros / Cons
4. Skills
5. Items
6. Gameplay
7. Enemies / Allies
8. Replays
9. Ending

1. Alt-tab mini-guide

Skills

Normal build
1. Cold Feet
2. Ice Vortex
3. Cold Feet
4. Ice Vortex
5. Cold Feet
6. Ice Blast
7. Cold Feet
8-9. Ice Vortex
10. Stats
11. Ice Blast
12-15. Chilling Touch
16. Ice Blast
17-25. Stats

Items

Starting
(or )

Core
(or )
then ->

Trouble surviving: after Nulls

Optional / Situational

Extensions / Luxuries

Gameplay

1. Harass with Cold Feet early game
2. Don’t use Ice Vortex early game, besides for kills
3. Gank at level 6
4. DON’T FORGET ICE BLAST and initiate team battle with it
5. Map awareness
6. Stick with your team

2. Stats

Hero Type: Intelligence

HP: 492
Mana: 325

Strength: 18 + 1.4
Agility: 20 + 2.2
Intelligence: 25 + 2.6

Advanced stats

Affiliation: Neutral
Attack Animation: 0.45 / 0.3
Damage: 44 - 54
Casting Animation: 0.01 / 0.75
Armor: 4.8
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Movespeed: 295
Missile Speed: 1250
Attack Range: 600
Sight Range: 1800 / 1400

3. Pros / Cons

Pros:
+ Very powerful early game
+ Good int gain
+ Good base armor
+ Very powerful ultimate
+ Good casting animation
+ Spammable spells

Cons:
- Lack of strength / HP
- Ultimate is hard to place well
- Chilling Touch can be a debuff for your team if you don’t use it correctly
- Silence is a pain for him

4. Skills

Cold Feet

The Apparition curses his foes with The Frozen Mark which will freeze enemies to the ground. Unless target enemy moves at least 740 away from the mark within 4 seconds he is frozen still.

Casting Range: 700
Damage per second: 37.5 / 50 / 62.5 / 75
Stun duration if triggered: 1.25 / 2 / 2.75 / 3.5
Cooldown: 15 / 13 / 11 / 9
Manacost: 150

Notes

• Deals 37.5/50/62.5/75 magic damage at 0.8, 1.6, 2.5, 3.4 seconds
• Effect ends when the unit dies, the distance is over 765 or it no longer has the aura placed buff
• Blocked by Linken's Sphere

Uses
Harass, nuke, disable, combo

Ice Vortex

Gathers ancient frost energy into one area to create a small, immobile ice vortex at a location. Whenever enemies are near it, their movement speed and magical resistance are reduced.

Casting Range: 1500
AOE: 275
Movement Reduction: 18 / 22 / 26 / 30
Magic Resistance: -10 / -15 / -20 / -25
Duration: 12
Cooldown: 6
Manacost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110

Notes

• Since all your spells are magical, Ice Vortex boost them all.
• New units are checked for every 0.1 seconds.
• Does not affect magic immune units
• Does not affect Forged Spirit, Familiar, Stone Form

Uses
Scout: Since it has a very long range (1500) you can place it to watch against enemy ganks, but don’t spam it if you don’t have a good mana pool to support it.
Initiate: It breaks magic resistance, duh, use your nuke after
Chasing: It slows enemies, duh.

Chilling Touch

Releases a gust of cold wind at a target area, enchanting allied heroes with bonus magical damage on their attacks. Lasts for a limited number of attacks up to a maximum of 40 seconds. While the enchanted heroes have this chilling touch, their attack speed is reduced by 15%.

Casting Range: 800
AOE: 400
Maximum number of attacks: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 (or 40 seconds)
Bonus Damage: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70
Attack Speed Reduction: -15%
Cooldown: 50 / 46 / 42 / 38
Manacost: 140

Notes
• Damage type: magic
• Extra damage is it's own instance of damage as opposed to added to the attack.
• If an attack is interrupted before dealing damage the count of attacks is not lowered.

Uses
Use it only just before a team battle or your team will suffer of a -15% ASR. Not good.

Ice Blast

Ancient Apparition projects his presence out to make way for a powerful ripple of hailstone and dark magic. Once cast, it can release the spell to strike targets within 200 area of where his presence was upon release. It will deal damage to enemy units and apply a frostbite curse on them for 7 seconds where their health regeneration will be frozen and will shatter if they fall close enough to death. This spell has global range depending on how long you wait for the projections to move. Frostbitten units will take minor damage over time.

Casting Range: Global (!!!)
AOE: *
Impact Damage: 250 / 350 / 450
Shatter Threshold: 10% / 11% / 12%
Cooldown: 44 / 32 / 20
Manacost: 100 / 125 / 150

Notes
• Damage type: magic
• * The area of effect for the damage is 225+50*TimeTraveled capped at 1000, The area of effect for HP freeze is 275 along the path of the second projectile and upon the final strike area.
• First projectile has a 1500 movespeed, stops when the caster dies or casts the second part of the skill
• First projectile clears fog in a 500 radius circle at its end.
• When a hero dies under the threshold the kill is granted to Kaldr.
• Fatal damage is 100000000 physical and clears all debuffs prior damaging.
• The instant kill does not work on Illusions or Meepo clones.
• HP freeze prevents most kinds of healing including those from skills or items.
• The frozen buff can be purged, and the shatter damage will not kill you if you are affected by Shallow Grave.

There is an interesting note from elsoloist:

Quote:

Having played onli AA (ok, 95% of the games i played is AA), since his introduction as a practice to perfect AA play, it's important to note that the current iceblast is pretty bugger (doesnt do all that it says), as sometimes, the aoe that does damage and the aoe that surrounds the point that gain the freezing debuff is different. What i mean is that if u and ur opponent is like this: You -------X--Opponent, there could be chance that when u toss ur ice blast to x, ur opponent get the debuff, but no damage. The opposite can sometime happen, but i'm not sure how the layout would be like.

Uses
Initiate: Works well in the face of 5 enemy heroes and it freezes their HP
Kill: Always fun when you are at your fountain and kill someone fleeing with low HP

Mini-guide to Ice Blast

When you press , click where you want you ultimate go. It is important to know that it will ONLY influence the direction Ice Blast will go. Now watch the little “missile” go (it move really fast, 1500 ms) and when it is at the location that you want to stop, press again. The second part of the spell is now activated and another missile is launched from Kaldr and will blast the area that the first missile stoped (The movespeed of this one depends of the distance it has to travel. It needs about 2 seconds to reach its destination). The second projectile will freeze the HP of all heroes it meets and damage is done only in the AoE. Instant kill when an hero is under the effect of the HP freeze and is under 10 to 12% of his max HP.

Tips and tricks

1v1: You and your enemy are level 16. You have your core. No spell in cooldown. Let’s start.
Chilling touch before initiating the battle
Ice vortex (Behind him if he doesn’t do anything or farm, in front of you if he charges at you)
Disable with Eul's
Cold feet (~7 second disable, hell yeah)
Wack, wack, wack
Ult him and wack to death

Skill build

1. Cold Feet
2. Ice Vortex
3. Cold Feet
4. Ice Vortex
5. Cold Feet
6. Ice Blast
7. Cold Feet
8-9. Ice Vortex
10. Stats
11. Ice Blast
12-15. Chilling Touch
16. Ice Blast
17-25. Stats

Skill choice

Cold Feet is your main nuke/disable. Level whenever you can. Ice Vortex is leveled right after, because Ice Vortex/Cold Feet is a good combo. Take Ice Blast when you can for obvious reasons. Take one stat point at level 10 to give you a little more survivability and mana. Take Chilling Touch right after since you might not use it early game, since you don’t have a large mana pool.

Special build

1. Cold Feet
2. Chilling Touch
3. Cold Feet
4. Chilling Touch
5. Cold Feet
6. Ice Blast
7. Cold Feet
8. Chilling Touch
9. Chilling Touch
10. Ice Vortex
11. Ice Blast
12. Ice Vortex
13. Ice Vortex
14. Ice Vortex
15. Stats
16. Ice Blast
17-25. Stats

Not very sure of this build, but Chilling Touch can input a very good amount of damage with a good ganker with you (you are better not do that if you are planning to be alone, Ice Vortex would be a better choice), but personally, I don’t use this built.

5. Items

Beginning:
(or )

Obvious reasons, mana and health and start your Null Talismans / Bracers

Core:
(or )
then ->

2x Null (or Bracers) for mana and health, boots: my first choice would be Power Treads (Str for your HP needs) since he lacks strength terribly, Boots of Travel if you want to, or just normal boots is okay, it depends on your farming. Grab a Void Stone first while doing your Eul's for mana regen / spammability. Why Eul's? For a powerful disabling stack. Disable, then Cold Feet. For the win.

Items to consider

Optional Core

Trouble staying alive? This is the item for you. It is one of the only item that you could take if you need to delay your core. Try to stick with your team most of the time to heal them (and yourself) and have charges. Buy it before Guinsoo if you need to.

Extensions / Luxuries

Need armor? Another slow?
Think you are made of paper?
For a powerful 7 second disable and even 9.5 if put Eul's after, it sure rocks. Only works if the enemy hero doesn’t call himself Lycan with is ultimate (It’s always fun to see a chicken running at 522 ms, but it is not the purpose of this item).
Ice Vortex / Dagon always welcome.
Ice Vortex / Soul Burn always welcome too + DPS.
Note on Soul Burn: Amplify damage (20%) and it is dealt at the end of the duration as MAGIC damage. Also silence the target and lasts 5 seconds. Only hope the targeted hero is on the Ice Vortex at the end of the duration, or ask a perma-disabler to have it stay.
More slow, yay. (Skadi is not an orb since your hero is ranged, only a buff placer)
Alright, it may sounds weird, but anyways. It is an alternate way to Shiva and try a wannabe DPSer. Don’t take it if someone else does.
For supporting your allies.

Optional / Situational

For early game ganks and mana needs.
Scared of Ursa, or glass cannons? (Very situational and underestimated item)
Too many nukers?
You hate invisible heroes?
Anti glass cannons for the win.
Good for staying alive early game and boost your mana pool. Vitality Booster could also do the job, depending of your needs.

Orb effect item

Kaldr doesn't need orb effects.

Wannabe DPSer + good orb, for fun only, because there are better items for Kaldr.

Rejected items

First on the list and you know why, extremely low cooldown skills.
Try to have a better attack speed before getting this.
The hell, disable all of them before thinking of that.
I’ve seen someone with that… MS? Eul’s. DPS? Take Orchid. And they both have a disable included.
Treads and BoT are better. Okay, let me explain myself. The Ancient Apparition lacks terribly of HP. The damage bonus of Phase boots isn't as appealing as the strength bonus of Power Treads. BoT are for supporting purpose, which Phase boots don't have.
What? It is a good item for him! Since Eul's is in core and your spells doesn’t cost more than 150 mana each, you don’t need a lot more mana regen. If you need HP, take Tarrasque goddamn. I recommend Guinsoo’s if you REALLY want infinite mana. Anyway, If I would build one, I'd stick with Perseverance, because Bloodstone is better when you have it early and I don't think it really is effective to build it late game.
I’d rather want to see a super-tank Kaldr with 3 Tarrasques than one with lifesteal.

Final builds
If you ever reach all those 6 items in a real game…

Nuke + Disable

DPS + Disable

Support + Disable

Why your builds always have a Tarrasque?
I want to stay with my team as much as possible for support purpose.

And Guinsoo?
I'm sorry if it disturbs you. I like disables. Kaldr is a nice supporter. That's all you need to know.

Do I have to follow those builds?
Not necessarily. A good combination of the core and extension / optional items does a great job. And don’t forget that your build MUST be in function of your game. Anyways, you will probably never have a final item build in a normal game.

6. Gameplay

Early Game: Level 1

Take with you 2 Mantles of Intelligence (2 Gauntlets or 1 Gauntlet and 1 Mantle can do the job if you need more HP), 1 Circlet of Nobility, 1 Tango and 2 Clarities.

You should not go to the middle lane unless no one is a good pick to solo in your team. The thing is that it could be very difficult for you to stay in lane if you face a nuker like Lina or a spell spammer like Zeus. A good lane partner would be a disabler or a stunner to provide you an easy first blood. However, a good nuker can do the job.

Kaldr have a good attack animation, so it will be easy for you to last hit and deny creeps. For the enemy heroes, harass them as much as possible, it is your role at this state of the game. You have to prevent them to do anything.

Nevertheless, don’t spam your Cold Feet. Use it when they come to last hit a creep so they will have to get away, or they will take damage and be disabled. Don’t use any other spell unless you think you can have the kill. The key is communication. Have your partner know what you are intending to do.

Buy boots when you have 500 gold and try to not miss too much exp.

Mid Game: Level 6

Alright, if you are in a 2v1 situation (you and your partner vs enemy), just kill him. In a 2v2, Ice Blast them both if you can and if you have enough mana to support it, do a Ice Vortex / Cold Feet combo on the hero that have the less HP. If your lane partner is good, you should do a double kill with the shatter. In a 1v2, do the same thing, but only if you think that you can kill one hero without tanking too much damage, or be dead. If you ever are in a 1v0 lane, you can use Ice Vortex to scout, but I recommend you to go kill some heroes when you reach level 6.

Next, as Kaldr and having an ultimate with global range, like Silencer and Lord of Olympia, you must check the map as much as you can and kill those fleeing heroes. Oh, yeah, and as a teammate of the Ancient Apparition, you must say it when you see someone fleeing, even if you think it is maybe too late. A fountain kill is always fun (or very raging, depending on which side you are).

When you are in a big battle (let’s say 5v5), Chilling Touch before the battle and cast Ice Blast. It is better to initiate than to kill with this spell, because of the HP freeze. They are now more vulnerable to your attacks. Spam Ice Vortex and Cold Feet on the glass cannon (or disabler) whenever you can.

For items, buy your Null Talismans / Bracers, then a Void Stone. Always have a TP for emergencies or to return to your base faster. Buy a Mystic Staff and an Ultimate Orb after that.

Late Game: Level 16

I will assume that you have your core now and you should have it mid game if you had a good early game. This means Eul's. Now have fun with your Ice Vortex / Eul's / Cold Feet combo. Stay with your team and support it as much as you can. Initiate all fights with Ice Blast. Always target the disablers and glass cannons first, and buff your team.

7. Enemies / Allies

Enemies to avoid

If you can’t use your spells, what can you do? Silencer also prevent you from spamming your spells. For all illusion users, especially Meepo's clones, I have to warn you of something about Ice Blast. Instant kill does NOT work on them.

Best allies

Fall in love with a combo of Enrage / Overpower / Chilling Touch. Beastmaster and Troll for extra DPS. Murloc does well with Chilling Touch and Kaldr with Pounce. Perma-disablers are always good teammates. And Geomancer is made for Chilling Touch, it input so much damage!

Guide To Crystal maiden

noreply@blogger.com (Rajeshwor) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:30:00 +0000

Guide to Rylai Crestfall, Crystal Maiden
Updated for DotA 6.66b

While Maiden is not as strong as she used to be before the nerf to her aura she's still a good hero that works wonders in the right line up. Her aura is invaluable to the entire team early game, she has a nice disable, a slow that works exceptionally well with just 1 skill point and an ultimate that has the potential to do a lot of damage. She can make a team win all her lanes while still providing wards, being a great ganker and adding good AoE in team fights.
The reason I'm writing this guide is that even though she's a fairly easy hero to play I still see decent players use her plain wrong on a regular basis.
It's my first guide and the only plan I had in mind while writing it was to teach people how to play Crystal Maiden so please excuse the rather chaotic format
One last thing: This guide is geared towards somewhat experienced players. That doesn't mean you have to be pro or anything but I'm going to assume you're playing anywhere above pub level so that playing a support hero that gets a chicken and wards for the team actually pays off. You might even do well with this kind of build in a public game if you get people to listen to you and gank but that is definitely not going to happen every game.

Hero Statistics

Notes:
Those are the stats of a fragile caster. As you can see though, while her damage and attack animation are nothing to brag about they're not much worse than those of most casters. Some people on these forums act like last hitting, denying and harassing with CM are close to impossible which is simply wrong.
One thing that does stand out though is her cast animation or rather the back swing of it which is a whopping 2.4 seconds. This means that you only take 0.3 seconds to actually cast a spell but afterwards maiden stands there doing nothing but waving her wand through the air for 2.4 seconds. You should always cancel that part of the animation, as soon as you see Crystal Nova or Frost Bite being cast just order another command right away, don't waste time.

Hero Abilities

Notes:

Damage type: magical

Will slow the affected units' movespeed by 30% and attack speed by 20%. This slow does not stack with other frost based slows (Freezing Field, Skadi, Shiva's, Frost Nova, Frost Armour, Chain Frost, Dual Breath, Elder Dragon Form level 3 and itself).

The maximum range at which you can hit a target is 1100 (700 cast range + 400 AoE).
Here is a picture to demonstrate how far this is:

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768.

Even though the animation suggests the opposite the damage and slow is applied the instant the spell is cast (similar to quill spray).

Does not aggro creeps.

A great slow on early levels that turns into a decent source of AoE damage later. Its range is outstanding.

Notes:

Damage type: magical

The overall damage is 140/140/210/210 as it deals 70 at the beginning of every second the spell is on the target.

Renders the target impossible to move or attack.

Sends a stop command to the target which acts like a mini stun by cancelling the last action of the hero (including channelling spells and tp scrolls)

If a unit affected by Frost Bite goes invisible you can still see it until Frost Bite wears off.

Can be dispelled by BKB, Purge, Manta, Mirror Image, Phantasm, Blade Fury, Rage, Time Lapse, Aphotic Shield and Repel

Blink- and Metarmophosis-based skills cannot be used while under the effect of Frostbite. Those are Blink (AM and QoP), Teleport, Metamorphosis, True Form, Elder Dragon Form, Firefly, Berserker Rage, Split Shot, Shape Shift, Phase Shift, Spirit Form, Flesh Golem, Chemical Rage and Burrow (Scarabs).

Can't be used on flying unit's (Batrider in Firefly mode), it does work on hovering unit's (Viper, Visage, OD, Batrider without Firefly) though.

When a hovering unit dies while under the effect of Frost Bite it is stuck in the ground for the rest of the game. In the case of Batrider that means that he permanently loses flying vision during Firefly.

Lasts 10 seconds on creeps level 5 or lower. This includes lane creeps, most neutral creeps and summons, even the fountain but not Sylla's Spirit Bear and Roshan.

Frost Bite is a great disable which is very useful during the entire game. It lasts longer and does more damage on early levels than similar spells but in return it only prevents few spells from being cast and the damage doesn't increase by much.

Notes:

Stacks with the Brilliance Aura given by Ring of Basillus.

The bonus mana regeneration is not considered for percentage mana regeneration increases.

Brilliance Aura is among the most useful abilities in the game. It makes your allies win their lanes without you even needing to gank (and I'm not saying you shouldn't)!

Notes:

(**) Total area of effect of the spell.

(***) Area of effect of each explosion.

Damage type: magical

The slow is applied on all enemy units within an AoE of 635, even if they aren't hit by any explosion (lasts 1 second).
Just like Crystal Nova Freezing Field slows movement speed by 30% and attack speed by 20% and again, it does not stack with any other frost based slows.

Every 0.1 seconds one explosion is made, for a total of 40 explosions.

Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).

Freezing Field is a rather situational Ultimate. Under the right circumstances it has the potential to wreak havok but often it's cancelled early.

Skill Build

Level 1 - Frost Bite
Level 2 - Brilliance Aura/Crystal Nova
Level 3 - Brilliance Aura
Level 4 - Crystal Nova/Brilliance Aura
Level 5 - Brilliance Aura
Level 6 - Freezing Field
Level 7 - Brilliance Aura
Level 8-10 - Frost Bite
Level 11 - Freezing Field
Level 12-14 - Crystal Nova
Level 15 - Attribute Bonus
Level 16 - Freezing Field
Level 17-25 - Attribute Bonuses

Justification: Frost Bite on level 1 is a no brainer, great disable and nice to harass with. After that Aura is maxed, it's simply her best skill. You should get one level of Crystal Nova for the slow though, it stays the same on all levels, then Bite is maxed, then Nova for the damage. Freezing Field whenever possible for some nice AoE.

Variations:

Depending on how aggressive your lane is you can get Nova at any time between levels 2 and 4. Say if you're laning with Juggernaut go for the level 2 Nova and see if you can get first blood, if for some reason you're laning with say Tide you might want to get aura earlier to help out the rest of your team more.

In a few lanes having a few points in Bite rather early is fairly important, such as CM+Admiral. In that lane I might go Bite, Aura, Bite, Aura, Aura, Nova, Aura, then continue just like the normal build.
Another situation when levelling Frost Bite earlier can be a good idea is when laning against an Anti Mage or Queen of Pain. Depending on how well your team can utilize Brilliance Aura you could even max it first if that means you will win your lane.

If you're going for an instant first blood with 3-4 heroes (and only then!) you can go for Nova first. The slow allows you to get in more hits than the low level frost bite would. In any other cases Frost Bite is far superior (as to why read the Q&A section below).

If you don't like maxing Nova you don't have to, I do think though that it's best to max it. Some people tend to get stats when they die too fast but that's just silly. I mean do you think 78 hp is going to help, with Maiden's crappy armour? Better get those extra levels of Nova so you can deal some burst damage before you die.

Sometimes it's better to skill Freezing Field a bit later (read the Q&A section below).

Skill build Q&A:

Q: Don't you have too little mana with that build?
A: With 3 gg branches (or a Wand) you only won’t have enough mana to cast all your spells at the same time on levels 6 and 16. At level 6 you need about 5 seconds between the first and the last spell, level 16 you need about 2 seconds. With a charge on your wand/stick you’re good anytime.

Q: Why do you get your ultimate at level 6?
A: I used to delay it myself but let’s face it: If you don’t get your ultimate that’s one level more of Frost Bite; half a second disabling time and at level 8 (and only at level 8) 70 damage. If you ask me simply having the option to cast your ultimate is a lot more valuable than that.
Yes, casting Bite three times and Nova twice is more efficient than casting Bite, Nova and Freezing Field but it also requires the battle to last for 30 seconds, you need to stay alive and in range to cast your spells for the entire time. This doesn't happen a lot and when it does and you went for Freezing Field you can still do that, again, it's about the option to cast Freezing Field, skilling it doesn't mean you have to use it when there's no good opportunity.
If you can not farm at least 3 branches or a magic stick (boots become more important at some point and so are wards) then skill your ultimate a bit later. This should be very rare though as gg branches are extremely cheap.

Q: But don't all pros skip Freezing Field until later in the game?
A: No. This is a common misconception. In the making of this guide I ran a lot of pro replays through parsers and there were hardly any players that didn't level Freezing Field at level 6. People do have different skill builds with Maiden but I believe the skill build I listed above is the best; it's also the most common among pro players.

Q: Shouldn't you get Frost Nova at level 1?
A: The slow from Frost Nova allows you to get in a lot more hits when you’re chasing than level 1 Frost Bite does. Thus, as mentioned above, if you’re trying to get first blood right away (which is often done in competitive games) yes, Frost Nova is superior there. For laning however Frost Bite beats Frost Nova by far. Sure, you might think now that you can land more hits on the slowed target than with Frost Bite but in reality there will be creeps and usually another hero which will definitely attack you when you’re trying to chase someone for 5 seconds in the lane. Frost Bite is far more useful here as it renders the target immobile so you don’t have to charge into enemy creeps. It also deals 60 more damage at level 1. That easily makes up for Frost Nova's AoE.
So yes, Frost Nova is better for killing but Frost Bite is simply better for wearing your enemies down which is what you will be doing on level 1 most of the time, then, when they're low you can use Frost Nova to try to get a kill.

Item Build

Starting Items

+

Always get a chicken. Don't be a douche bag, just do it, chances are the rest of your team needs the money more than you do.
If you have to buy wards right away because noone else is going to well then again just do it, it's all for the greater good. Since you won't have much money left I suggest getting a set of tangos and a couple of gg branches, if you need regen after that just use the chicken.
If there's another hero that can buy the first set of wards (and there should be in most games) I suggest you get the items listed above. If you know that you'll be harassed a lot and/or like playing very aggressively you can get an extra healing salve or set of tangos instead of 2 branches. Sometimes starting with a magic stick might also be a good idea, for example if you're laning against a Zeus or Bristle Back.
Another thing I sometimes do is buying tangos for another hero. When we use a Centaur+CM lane in a clan war for example Centaur usually starts off with a stout shield, a quelling blade and a flask and I pass him a set of tangos. That way we don’t have to pass the tangos back and forth all the time. It’s a pretty situational thing though.

If you'd like to go for a different combination of items that's fine, just make sure your team has a chicken and a set of wards.

Core Items

+

In most games the first thing you should do once you get 200 gold is upgrading the chicken. Having a crow is simply much better since it's faster and items in a crow are actually safe; I'm pretty sure you'll never see a decent player use a chicken to buy his Sacred Relic from the secret shop. It's always useful, for your team as well as yourself, so you don't have to walk back to the base every time you want to buy a new set of wards.
Around the 6 minute mark your first couple of wards will run out and you will definitely want to replace those. If you can afford it also start counter warding, especially when you know where your enemies have their wards.
The first real item you should buy for yourself are boots. Most heroes get some other items like bracers first but since you're playing support that would delay your boots by too much, you need them for ganking and escaping ganks.
Also grab a tp scroll and keep one for the rest of the game. Crystal Maiden is great for so called "save TPs". Basically anytime an enemy decides to tower dive to kill one of your allies you should tp there as fast as possible and freeze him in tower range. This will often save your ally as well as giving you a good chance to get a kill so always look out for those opportunities. (There are of course situations when you can not save your ally and you'll only suicide in the process, in that case you obviously shouldn't tp.)
Next you should get a Magic Wand. You can get the parts earlier, both Magic Stick and gg branches are great for their price but getting Boots is usually more important than completing the Wand. This means that you might have to (temporarily) drop or sell a gg branch but really, it's not a huge loss.
If needed you can also use the crow to get some regen (tangos or flasks) for both you and your lane mate. Sometimes it is smarter to simply go back to the fountain to heal though, I trust you can make that decision.
The last item I listed as "core" is Urn of Shadows and this item is simply amazing. It provides some survivability, comes in small parts but most importantly it has an incredible active ability that is invaluable when pushing but also great during and after ganks. Many people tend to skip this item when someone else has it already but due to the long cool down I actually think having two per team is ideal, three is still okay. If three of your team mates have it already though you should probably skip it and get a bracer or point booster instead.
Luxury Items

Before I start listing items I just want to make sure the following is clear to everyone: The items listed above really are Crystal Maiden's core items. This might seem to be a very cheap core build but please consider that Maiden will hardly ever get to farm, shouldn't really take any kills from other players and will probably die a lot. Also wards are not a one time investment, they should be bought over and over again to provide map control. When playing Crystal Maiden you might well find yourself walking around with this core build for the entire game, this does not mean you're playing badly, more like the opposite.
Thus, when thinking about further items for Crystal Maiden we have to consider a couple of things: Firstly they should be easy to farm, secondly Crystal Maiden does not have a lot of item slots left over. This is the reason bracers are not usually included in my build and should only be bought if the game goes horribly wrong!
Now, without further ado:

Strength Treads
Treads might seem like a horrible investment at first; the attack speed boost is completely useless and for 50 gold more you could get an Ogre Axe which can be used in a BKB or Aghanim’s. But they have one big advantage: They don’t take up an extra slot and as I mentioned before you won’t have a lot of those left over. Most pros have actually started getting strength treads on Maiden in 6.64, by now phase boots are a decent alternative again though.

Phase Boots
Phase boots are pretty great for getting in range to cast your spells and provide some survivability due to the bonus ms. They're not as good as the old phase boots obviously - armour was far better for Maiden than the extra damage is - but the extra mobility is pretty nice and they come in small pieces.

Point Booster
Point Booster is a very cost efficient item that solves your mana issues and provides some much needed survivability. It’s basically like getting a bracer and a null, just that it requires only one slot which makes it far superior. It is harder to farm for but it's worth it.

Kelen's Dagger
Dagger is great for setting up ganks as well as positioning yourself for a nice ultimate in team fights.
It is usually a good choice if you can somehow farm it very early in the game as it helps your ganking a lot. It’s definitely the best choice of luxury items if someone else on your team is warding for some reason. It doesn't exactly solve your mana issues though consider leaving Nova at level 1 for a while when going for a Dagger.

Black King Bar
BKB is obviously gotten to prevent your opponents from cancelling your ultimate right away. Personally I find it a bit overrated; Freezing Field only lasts a maximum of four seconds anyways and with some good positioning or just a good AoE disable by your team (Ravage, Black Hole) I find it rather unnecessary, especially for the cost. I know a lot of people will disagree here though and if you find yourself being stunned the second you cast your ultimate every time and with a lot of cash on your hands then you should definitely consider it. I also recommend getting it when you have a Pit Lord or Treant Protector on your team as they can stop your enemies from moving and attacking but not from throwing their stuns at you. Ogre Axe being a part of the recipe is fairly nice.

Aghanim's Scepter
Let’s face it; the biggest reason to get this is that it requires a Point Booster which you will probably have already. The stats are decent but the boost to your ultimate isn’t overwhelming. Still, it’s okay when you can land your ultimates consistently (again, Black Hole, Ravage and the like are your friends) but generally there are better items.

Mekansm
Mekansm is a good support item for Crystal Maiden, it just has two disadvantages: Unlike any of the 3 items above it will not help you with your ultimate and it also costs some mana while not increasing your mana pool.
Thus it is best in games when you can not land your ultimate and a BKB will not change this (for example when an enemy Naga always saves her net for you). Either get a Point Booster first or only get one level of Nova when going for Mekansm.

Ghost Scepter
Ghost Scepter is a vastly underrated, yet very, very situational item. Its purpose is to counter well farmed physical damage carries late game when they can kill a support hero like Crystal Maiden with just a few hits.
On the other hand it also makes you very susceptible to nukes thus you have to think carefully about when to buy and use it.

Necronomicon
Necronomicon is obviously a great counter for invisible heroes or heroes with small mana pools that are very reliant on their mana (Leoric, refresher Tide or Treant) and works rather well in Push strats.
However Neconomicon is most effective when you can farm it fast and it doesn't help with Crystal Maiden's ultimate at all thus you should only get it in rather extreme situations, usually there are better Necronomicon carriers on your team.

Boots of Travel
Mobility is extremely important in DotA, especially towards late game when a single push can end the game. Now CM is not exactly the type of hero that after a won team battle can TP to the other side of the map and single handedly take down a tower and a couple of barracks but she can help do so at least. You should only get this very late into the game though; BoT shouldn’t be your first luxury item.

Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse
Okay, now this is a super, super, super luxury item. I’m pretty sure if you play CM as ~~ward bitch~~ map control technician you will be able to farm this in less than 1% of your games (not counting stomps) but if you can it’s extremely powerful, especially late game.

Again, in most games you will probably end up with your core, treads and a point booster but it's far better to play Crystal Maiden as a true supporter and ending up with few items than aiming for all those big shiny items and taking farm from heroes that need it more than you.

Playing Crystal Maiden

Laning

Lane Partners
The amount of heroes that Crystal Maiden can form strong lanes with is incredible and only matched by very few heroes. Here are some examples:

Note that many more are possible, being a ranged hero that doesn't need much farm and has a targeted disable means she can lane with almost any hero in the game, she works very well in tri lanes as well.

Why not to solo
I generally discourage soloing CM. It's not that she wasn't able to do it at all, she's got 600 range, nova which she can use to farm and a disable that can save her life if need be but she still remains a weak solo, mostly due to her attack animation. And why would you want to solo such a great dual laner anyways? I've heard some people say that getting her aura even earlier will help the rest of the team even more but you always have to consider if that is worth giving an enemy hero easy farm while one of your heroes gets less experience because the solo lane is occupied. The answer to that will pretty much always be no.

How to play in dual lanes
When you get to your lane be aggressive. You have 600 range, go make use of that, harass some. Don't be afraid to spam Bite, it only costs 115 mana and you have aura but always save the mana for one Bite in case you get into trouble. Also make sure that whenever you cast it you follow up with at least one hit on that enemy so you're actually doing some damage. When you feel like you can get a kill go for it and use Frost Nova as well, just make sure you make good use of the slow, don't just cast Nova right after Bite, instead cast it when Bite has worn off.
Also always look for lanes to gank. Especially when you’re laning with a hero like Sniper who is able to hold the lane by himself for a while you should keep your eyes open for an opportunity to gank. Maybe your enemies pushed to far, or they’re low, maybe there’s an invisibility or haste rune.
When you’re laning with a melee hero that can’t farm too well without you being there I suggest you go ganking after killing one of your opponents. That makes it easier on your ally to farm, especially if your enemy thinks you’re just going around the trees to sneak up on him.
As far as creeps are concerned focus on denying and harassing, leave the last hits to your lane partner (if he can't get them feel free to take them of course).

About tri lanes
Playing Crystal Maiden in a tri lane is similar to playing her in a dual lane, except that you can be even more aggressive.
You should probably go for first blood right away, hide somewhere behind the trees and surprise your enemies from behind once you see them.
After that, depending on the game you have to decide if you want to permanently keep your opponents away from creeps (this may sound extreme but it's possible with allies like VS and Sven) or if you would rather gank more and get some kills. Most of the time the latter is better so you don't lose your other lanes. Tri lanes usually consist of one hero that can make good use of the farm (Sven, Slardar, Naix, Kunkka) and two strong item independent gankers (Maiden is one of those). After creating a decent advantage for your carry in the first few minutes you and your ganker buddy should start roaming in between lanes. Make sure though that your opponents do not have a ward between the tri lane and the mid lane, they should never feel completely save.

Roaming
For those who don't know: A "roaming" hero is one that doesn't have a definite lane, instead he choses to switch between lanes constantly, attempting to get kills wherever he goes with the help of the heroes that already are in the lane.
Crystal Maiden is a good roamer but be warned: Roaming does not work in just any line up. You at least need a strong dual lane as well as one solo hero with strong offensive capabilities (SF or Tinker work well), otherwise you will just walk from lane to lane without ever killing anyone.
Basically roaming is very similar to tri laning: You start off with your dual lane, you skill Nova first and try an instant first blood. After that you leave the lane and either go to mid lane (where your strong solo should be positioned) or come back in case the enemy heroes in the lane that's up against your dual lane are too careless. Keep alternating between the lanes but never go to a lane where you can't land a kill (for example if you have a solo Treant that is not level 6 yet or doesn't have his ultimate don't waste your time).
Ganking
As Crystal Maiden your role is typically to initiate the ganks. If you can get in Bite range then you should Bite your enemy first and use Nova once Bite has worn off, otherwise use Nova to get into Range. Depending on the situation you can sometimes wait the entire 5 seconds before you Bite your enemy, often you will want to use Bite earlier though to prevent your enemy from running to his tower for example.
If you can get off a good freezing field then go for it. Many people think this spell is only good in team battles but let’s face it, in most team battles you get stunned and focused down anyways, Freezing Field is not like Black Hole or Overgrowth, the cool down isn’t as long and it’s just not as valuable. If it can get you a kill then go for it.

Team Battles
Team battles are definitely the most complicated part of DotA thus it’s hard for me to give you any specific advice here. If you can, then try to get in a good ultimate. This can be very easy at times, especially with a Tide or Enigma on your team or when you somehow managed to farm a Dagger + BKB. In other games it will be close to impossible. When your enemies have mass stuns while your allies have very little it becomes difficult. Just remember that if you stay alive and Bite and Nova repeatedly you’ll be far more of a help to your team than if you run in, cast a crappy Freezing Field for a second, then die. The gold you lose from dying is not so important, not being there to disable enemies however is. Thus you shouldn’t be too afraid of death; if you can land a good ultimate but you’ll die in the process then go for it. But charging in thinking “doesn’t matter if I die” isn’t a smart thing to do.
Also as with many other heroes always make sure you cast all your spells before you die, in team battles that usually means Nova first, run in, Bite, Freezing Field but really, it all depends on the situation.

Farming
As mentioned before Crystal Maiden should not farm much. She is one of the heroes that work fairly well with close to no farm, thus it is better to leave creeps to your allies most of the time. There will be situations though when there is little else to do. After a team battle in which all of your allies either died or lost so much HP that they have to go heal at the fountain for example you can not gank and there is no one else to take the farm so farming yourself is perfectly fine.
Interestingly CM, a hero that should take so little farm, has 3 spells that help her do so:

Crystal Nova can often be used to get a couple of creeps as well as lowering the other creeps' HP so you can defend, push or just simply farm faster. I don't mean spam it all game long but when you don't need Nova for a second and there's a low hp creep or two around you can just use Nova to last hit it provided you can spare the mana. While CM's attack animation isn't as bad as everyone claims (it's pretty damn good for harassing actually) it does kind of blow when it comes to last hitting.

Frost Bite is particularly good to kill neutral creeps. As mentioned before no matter how many skill points you put into it, it will always last 10 seconds on creeps that are level 5 or below, that's 700 damage! This means it will kill all creeps below level 4 and do significant damage to level 5 creeps.
When using Frost Bite to farm you have to be sure there are no enemies nearby. Crystal Maiden is an easy kill anyways, take away her only disable and she becomes food for most enemies.

Using Freezing Field on creeps might seem silly but in certain situations it's actually a good idea. Let's take the following scenario: Your team has just killed several opponents in the forest and now wants to push mid lane. There is a huge creep wave outside your base top lane though that will push down your tower and barracks if you don't stop it. Now in most low level games the carry will probably shout "I'll def" acting like he just made a huge sacrifice when in reality he just wants to farm. And hey, farm for your carry is good right? True, but let's assume your enemies actually seem to be winning this game, say their carry is getting too strong and you just managed to take him out. This is your chance to push. Well, then Maiden should TP. She's pretty worthless when it comes to taking down buildings anyways and with her ultimate she can stop a creep wave just like a carry could, maybe even faster.

Using Freezing Field correctly
There are two key factors that decide whether your Freezing Field is successful: Positioning and Timing. Basically you want to hit as many opponents as possible but even more importantly you don't want to be interrupted. There are 4 ways to accomplish this:

BKB/Repel
This is probably the easiest way not to get interrupted. Just activate your BKB before you cast your ultimate. There are some abilities that go through BKB (Bash, Pit of Malice and a whole lot of Ultimates come to mind) but when playing against those heroes you should think twice about getting that BKB anyways.

Using your allies' disables
Global Silence, Ravage, Black Hole, Reverse Polarity and similar spells can all help you greatly in landing a good ultimate and making sure you can't be disabled. The best part is that many of those also ensure that you can not even get beaten to death plus noone can run from you. Thus, if you have a hero with some big disable on your team always wait for him to initiate, then blink/walk in and cast your ultimate.

Positioning
Basically by hiding behind a tree or up a ramp or cliff you can break the line of sight between yourself and your enemy. Many stuns in DotA are targeted, your ultimate isn't. Thus you can still cast it while they can't stop you.
A little example:

Bad positioning: I'm right next to two stunners. In this scene WD stunned me about a second after I started channeling and they beat me to death. (Casting my ultimate there was a very desperate attempt to escape.)

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768.

Cookie to whoever can tell me why there's Sven's face instead of Maiden's, this is not photoshopped.

Good positioning: Since I'm up on the cliff my enemies don't have vision of me. Thus neither Rhasta nor Sven or Alchemist can stop me from channelling, yet I'm still able to damage them.

Timing
This is extremely important in ganks. Sometimes you just have to wait a second until all your enemies have cast their disables, then you can go in and channel away.
Doesn't require any big items or great allies, just an open eye for all enemies and the spells they cast. It gets problematic in bigger fights though, especially when your enemies have low cool down (mini) stuns like Lightning Bolt, Hellfire Blast or Slithereen Crush.

Warding
Warding is key in any decent level game. It helps your team in ganking, avoiding ganks, getting runes, picking the right battles and even in battles because you can have vision of opponents you wouldn't usually see.
As CM your job is to provide wards for the team. And the oh so popular "bought wards, they're on the chicken" doesn't cut it, you also need to place them.
I could probably also write a guide about warding but luckily others have done that already, so I'll just recommend you take a good look at this guide, it is very well done and covers most important ward spots.
The key here, besides knowing all the ward spots, is to be smart. Predict where the game is going and where wards are needed the most. Sometimes you might not need wards at all (usually when either team desperately tries to push the enemy base, though a ward in the enemy base can be very nice, especially if you have a Pudge or similar on your team).
Also note that during mid and late game you can use the crow for warding when you run out of item slots. Obviously the crow can not place wards anymore but it can still bring you wards, you pass another item on to the crow for a second, place the ward, give the remaining wards back to the crow and take your item again. This should not be done early game though because the crow is usually in high demand during the laning phase.

Overall/Random Tips

Always watch your positioning
Positioning is one of the most important things in DotA. Good positioning wins games, bad positioning loses them very fast.
With a fragile hero like Crystal Maiden it's especially crucial. Fighting at the front of a team battle will get you killed about as fast as a Furion trying to heal at the wrong fountain. Unless you're trying to cast Freezing Field stay back and cast your spells from a save distance.

Stay with your team
Crystal Maiden is a team player. She's hardly a force to be reckoned with; unless you get very lucky with her ultimate she can hardly take a hero 1 on 1. Thus, especially as the game progresses it becomes extremely important that you stick with your team. There will be times when you have to go alone, for warding for example. Try staying out of fights for that time; again, chances are you're not going to win them.

About Frost Bite...
Okay, this might seem pretty random but remember how I mentioned Frost Bite having that stop command when you cast it? Well, Frost Bite itself may not prevent people from casting spells or channelling tps, the stop command does though. I'll just quote Merlini from his Zeus guide here, he talks about Lightning Bolt and even though it might not seem so at first the two spells have a lot in common:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlini
1. Lightning Bolt has a very short mini-stun. Some uses are obvious - canceling tps, canceling long channeled spells (Black Hole, Shackle). Others are less obvious. Canceling blink animation of QoP. Interrupting the delicate timing of Earthshaker's Blink Echo, Fissure, Enchant Totem combo. Canceling 1 of your opponent's attacks. The last one may seem ridiculous, who cares about just one attack? My argument is that, in the solo lane, everything matters. One gank, one extra attack thrown in, can upset the balance in one person's favor. Use the mini-stun to maximum effectiveness!

Basically what this means is that sometimes you shouldn't cast Frost Bite right away, instead you wait a second for your opponent to do something and cancel his action. The easiest ones are spells that you can easily predict such as Centaur's Stomp or Panda's Clap but after a while you'll discover more and more. As Merlini said this might not make a huge difference - if you're lucky you're wasting a quarter of a second of your opponent's time. But in the end that split second might just make a difference.

Allies and Enemies

Good allies

AoE disablers

These guys can help you tremendously with landing good ultimates, just remember that neither Overgrowth nor Pit of Malice silence your enemies.

Spammers

I guess this is kind of obvious, Brilliance Aura benefits all heroes that can spam their spells, some more than others.

Juggernaut

The one weakness that Frost Bite has compared to other disables is that it doesn't stop enemies from casting their spells - which really doesn't matter when you are laning with Juggernaut since Blade Fury turns him magic immune anyways. And the 5 second slow from Frost Nova makes it impossible for enemies to escape the Fury.
They form one of the strongest lanes out there and the extra mana from Brilliance Aura allows Juggernaut to farm really quick by using Blade Fury. And what more could a support hero like Crystal Maiden ask for than a well farmed carry on her team?

Omniknight

Omniknight is a great ally for Maiden: They can form a very strong lane, he benefits greatly from her aura and he can repel her for some uninterrupted Freezing Fields.
Too bad he's currently not a very good pick, diffusal blade just counters him too hard.
Tough Enemies

I don't think there's any hard counter to CM. I mean sure, I could list the obligatory Anti Mage and Doom Bringer that come up as counters in every second guide but noone actually uses those to counter Crystal Maiden. Anti Mage is too weak and also Frost Bite disables his blink, Doom is a pain to play against but even if he manages to doom and kill you it's not that bad, I mean usually there are better targets for him than the underfarmed support hero.
Some heroes that are really annoying though are the ones that can dispel Frost Bite and also Bat Rider, because he becomes immune to it once he activates Firefly.

Generally though people do not pick heroes to counter support heroes, so don't worry too much.