Dota Heroes Guide

Scourge

Mortred The Phantom Assassin Guide

Darkterror the Faceless Void Guide, Walkthrought, Item Build and Skill Build.


They say he was once human, but his background is shrouded in darkness, even to himself. What we know is that he was thrown into the Void between worlds and has emerged with the power of manipulating time. He can freeze his enemies in time and avoid hits by traveling a split-second back in time, right before receiving the blow. He can briefly rip apart the fabric of space-time to freeze both allies and opponents around him, yet remain free himself to act. It is rumored that he can instantly strike any man in a legion of soldiers, but nobody sees him move...




Base HP: 473
Base Mana: 195

Strength - 17 + 2.2
Agility - 21 + 2.65 (Primary)
Intelligence - 15 + 1.5

Base damage 58-64
Attack range of 128 (melee)
Base Armor 4
Movement speed of 300

Strengths and Weaknesses

PositivesMediocre AGI gain for AGI hero
Low starting HP and melee range
Fragile early game
As with all melee heroes, prone to disable-lock

Negatives Nice STR gain for an AGI Hero.
His Ulti’s means sure kill if you do it correctly
Has one of the greatest passive skill named Backtrack (25% chance deflect damage)
Has very synergize skills

Skill Descriptions

Time Walk



Quickly moves to a target location and slows the movement and attack of all units at the end of its path for 3 seconds.

Level 1 - 700 cast range. 10% slow. 120 Mana.
Level 2 - 900 cast range. 20% slow. 120 Mana.
Level 3 - 1100 cast range. 30% slow. 120 Mana.
Level 4 - 1300 cast range. 40% slow. 120 Mana.

Cooldown: 13 seconds

This skill is pretty much like Blink, has 3 uses, Initate, Escape, Chase. But you must note, that this skill has a difference from Blink. When you pointing this skill into a spot, he will walk until his cast range is enough. Unlike Blink that immediately blink away into your point direction. This is important, because if you point a spot outside your cast range, you will walk until you get into your cast range. Therefore, in that period you will be vulnerable to enemy attack. AoE Slow is about 200, which will very usefull to chase fleeing hero.

Back Track



Whenever damage is received, Faceless Void moves a moment back in time to try to dodge that damage. Can backtrack both physical and magical attacks.

Level 1 - 10% chance.
Level 2 - 15% chance.
Level 3 - 20% chance.
Level 4 - 25% chance

The Best Evasion skill in the game. With this skill you have a 25% chance to avoid any damage in the game. This will stack with Butterfly Evasion because Backtrack is actually different from evasion skill. You will make Lina crying when her Laguna Blade doesn’t do any harm thanks to your backtrack.

Time Lock



Gives a chance that an attack will do bonus damage and lock a unit in time for 1 second.

Level 1 - 10% chance per attack.
Level 2 - 15% chance per attack.
Level 3 - 20% chance per attack.
Level 4 - 25% chance per attack.

Passive

This skill is very nice to have. By 25% chance stun per attack, it is synergize very well with Darkterror other skills.

Chronosphere



Faceless Void creates a rip in spacetime causing all units in that area to become trapped for its duration. Faceless Void has a mysterious connection with spacetime that causes him to be unaffected by the sphere. Casting range increases per level.

Level 1 - 3 Seconds. 175 Mana.
Level 2 - 4 Seconds. 225 Mana
Level 3 - 5 Seconds. 250 Mana

Cooldown: 165 seconds

Creates a huge sphere that stop everything (allies, towers, creeps and obviously enemys) except you. You can be Hooked, Vaccumed (Dark Seer and Magnataur) and Swaped out of the Chronosphere. Won’t freeze things like Pulse Nova, Chain Frost, Eclipse, Exorsism and Omnislash after they have been cast. The most important thing you must remember when you are using this is your ALLIES is also get caught. You can kill your fleeing allies when you use this skill in the wrong time. So, timing will be very important when you are using this skills.

Skill Build

Level 1- Time Walk
Level 2- Back Track
Level 3- Back Track
Level 4- Time Lock
Level 5- Back Track
Level 6- Chronosphere
Level 7- Back track
Level 8- Time Lock
Level 9- Time Lock
Level 10- Time Lock
Level 11- Chronoshpere
Level 12- Time Walk
Level 13- Time Walk
Level 14- Time Walk
Level 15- Stats
Level 16- Chronosphere
Level 17-25- Stats

We get Time Walk in the first level because it can be used for escaping early gangbang. Back Track early game will help your fragility for last-hitting and denying. It will also helps you neutral creep a lot better and tower-dive. Chronosphere is taken early, because it will be additional skill that can save you from sudden gangbang. Furthermore, if your enemies are careless, this skill will help you to get an early frag.

Item Build
1. Circlet and Tangos
2. Bracers + Mask of Death
3. Boots of Speed
4. Finish Mask of Madness
5. Belt of Giant Strength
6. Glove of Haste
7. Finish Power Treads
8. Monkey King Bar

Your core items should be like this:



Late Game Items
or + +

If your games is long enough, you can grab butterfly for an additional evasion and give you more survivability. Or if your enemies have more than 3 nuker or disabler, Black King Bar will be synergizes greatly with your backtrack. Assault cuirass will give you even more destructive power inside your Chronos. The -5 armor aura and the attack speed boost will help you killing your target faster. Lastly, grab your HoT if your teams lack of tanker and all of your enemies focusing on you.

Strategy
Early game is the most important part, if you don't get a good early game, you will suffer later on. That means if you can't last-hit anything, get harassed like hell and/or get first blooded, you will get trouble in the late game. Get your Tangoes and Circlets and go to Bottom Lane if on Sentinel or Top Lane on Scourge. Its advised that your go with a teamate, a ranged ally who has great lane control and can breast feed you while you last-hit delivers the best outcomes.

Don't attempt at a first blood, let your teamate harass while you farm happily. By all means if the opportunity is starring at you in the face then take it, play aggressively but not greedily.
If the creeps are too far on the opponents side then go and neutral some creeps and let your ally get some last-hits. Neutral creeping is advised at about lvl6, or at least thats when I don't have much trouble with them.

Now by Mid Game you should already have your Bracers, Treads and MoM. This is where you can stop pushing and start neutraling like crazy, which means youll have to ask your allies to get wards for you. If theres a big team push you can go there to maybe get a lucky kill. Once you've got your MoM, you can push and neutral a lot better because of the MoM buff (75 IAS) and lifesteal.

You should now be trying to single out weak and fragile heros to feed on (Sniper comes to mind) so you can get your Monkey King Bar as fast as you can. If your Chrono is on cooldown, then just neutral but once you've got your Chrono, try to kill. Don't neutral farm the whole game like I used to do, dont be afraid to kill heros and participate in ganks after you've got your MoM.

You should have your Monkey King Bar and can solo most hero easily. Own anything you see, neutral, push hard and participate in team ganks and pushes. Play aggressively, but don't be a fool. You are now a force to be reckoned with and everyone should be scared of you and will try to gank the hell outta you, watch the mini-map and don't stay in one lane for too long. Push one side, whack the tower a little bit and then retreat to neutrals. Neutral everywhere on your territory and then go back to pushing, its an effective strategy.

Don't be afraid to initiate full life heros (even tanks) since you can most likely kill them. Don't under estimate yourself, that's a big mistake and could make you ended up with almost no kills and keep your potential burden.

In the late game war, use your chronos wisely! You can kill almost all of your friend if you miss-use Chronos. With all of your friends trapped by your chrono and a WTF Razor and Troll coming out, your 99% chance of victory will be gone with your Chronos into dust..


This guide is as much inspired from www.dotaportal.com , any constructing feedback will be gladly acceptedNevermore Guide & Build, the Shadow Fiend Strategy. Nevermore is a great AoE carry who collect souls to increase his attack damage and maximize his ultimate: Requiem of Souls. This post contains Nevermore the Shadow Fiend guide, item build, skill build and strategy.


A demon of the burning legion so abhorred that he makes the skin of even his fellow demons crawl, Nevermore is a creature of the shadows that consumes the souls of those around him. When the Shadow Fiend comes forth to battle, he augments his power with the souls he has consumed, bearing down on his enemies with spiritually enhanced attacks and powerful spiritual blasts. The Shadow Fiend is a terrifying opponent whom few have survived, and those who have perished under his tyranny have faced the most despicable fate of all.




Strength - 15 + 2
Agility - 20 + 2.4 (Primary)
Intelligence- 18 + 2

Base damage 35-41
Attack range of 500
Base Armor 1.9
Movement speed of 300


Shadow Fiend Skill Descriptions

Shadow Raze (Z,X,C)



Gives the Shadow Fiend the power to desecrate regions in front of him at varying distances.

Level 1 - deals 75 damage
Level 2 - deals 150 damage
Level 3 - deals 225 damage
Level 4 - deals 300 damage

Mana Cost: 75
Cooldown: 10
Distances: 200(Z) / 450(X) / 700(C)

Shadowraze costs very little mana compared to the amount of damage it does. The Cooldown on each Shadowraze are separate which means Nevermore actually has three nukes on his back. This means he can deal a maximum of 900 damage (675 if magic resistance is considered) to a single target in a very short amount of time which makes Nevermore very dangerous indeed especially in the early game, when very few heroes have more than 900 hp.

Necromastery



Whenever the Shadow Fiend kills a target, he stores the unfortunate soul inside of him. For each stored soul he gains 2 bonus damage until his own death releases half of them from bondage.

Level 1 - 16 damage limit
Level 2 - 30 damage limit
Level 3 - 46 damage limit
Level 4 - 60 damage limit

Another one of Nevermore’s abilities that enables him to become a potent force in the middle game, Necromastery is directly linked to his Ultimate, Requiem of Souls and gives his massive DPS (damage-per-second, or just ‘damage’) advantage over other heroes in the middle game.

Unfortunately, Necromastery loses a lot of its effectiveness towards the late-game, as DPS-carries are mostly farmed up and the extra 60 damage become rather minuscule. It is very important, as a Nevermore user, to maintain that ‘edge’ through the middle game as Nevermore tends to be most effective during the early-middle to the middle-late game.


Presence of the Dark Lord



The presence of such a horrible creature terrifies nearby enemies, reducing their armor.

Level 1 - 2 armor reduction
Level 2 - 3 armor reduction
Level 3 - 4 armor reduction
Level 4 - 5 armor reduction

Presence of the Dark Lord is best combined with Stygian Desolator as the armor-reduction becomes very effective against many spellcasters. In an armor-reduction team strategy (e.g. Nevermore with Vengeful Spirit, Slardar and Templar Assassin), Presence of the Dark Lord should definitely be skilled. Otherwise, stick with Stats, especially when the game is not going your way. Think about it this way: -5 armor, or a free Ultimate Orb? (Well, almost an Ultimate Orb anyway).

Requiem of Souls (R)



Summons evil spirits around you dealing damage to units in the area. Number of spirits is related to the number of souls stored and the movement/damage reduction is related to the distance from the Shadow Fiend. Lowers movement speed and damage of nearby units. The closer the units are the greater the effect.

Level 1 - 80 damage for each line, 15% reduction
Level 2 - 120 damage for each line, 15% reduction
Level 3 - 160 damage for each line, 15% reduction

Cooldown: 120/110/100
Mana Cost: 150/175/200

This skill can be used to initiate team battle. The closer Nevermore is to the target whilst he casts Requiem of Souls, the greater damage he unleashes upon that target. If correctly used, Requiem of Souls will create devastating damage in a team fight, especially when combined with items such as Kelen’s Dagger or Lothar Edge.

Shadow Fiend Skill Build

Level 1: Necromastery
Level 2: Shadow Raze
Level 3: Shadow Raze
Level 4: Necromastery
Level 5: Shadow Raze
Level 6: Necromastery
Level 7: Shadow Raze
Level 8: Necromastery
Level 9: Requiem of Souls
Level 10: Stats
Level 11: Requiem of Souls
Levels 12-15: Presence of the Dark Lord/Stats
Level 16: Requiem of Souls
Levels 17-21: Stats
Levels 22-25: Stats/Presence of the Dark Lord

In any case, Shadowraze being Nevermore’s main nuke should be maxed out by Level 7 as it is his main farming and ganking skill. Requiem of Souls should not be skilled until Necromastery is maxed out first.
Max out Presence of the Dark Lord earlier than stats when:
1. Your team is playing aggressively and is winning in terms of towers/hero kills.
2. You’ve decided to buy Stygian Desolator for your first DPS item (BKB does not really count) and the -5 armour can really help.
3. You're playing a clan war and your team mates all have minus-armour abilities (Slardar’s Amplify Damage, for example) and your -5 armour aura can really turn the tide of the battle.
Otherwise, ignore that skill.

Shadow Fiend Item Build

1. 3x Ironwood Branch, 2 set of Tangos, Animal Courier
2. Boots of Speed, Finish Magic Wand
3. Optional: Empty Bottle
4. 2x Wraith Band
5. Finish Boots of Travel
6. Kelen's Dagger
7. Black King Bar

Nevermore's core item should be like this:



The Bottle is important for some quick heals and grabbing the rune. Boots of Speed need no real explanation.
Since Nevermore will be doing a lot of ganking, a Magic Wand can help him pull off some ridiculously awesome escapes, or give him that little bit of Mana for that one last raze. A Magic Wand is a MUST for Nevermore.

Always keep a TP scroll at all times, so he can either help you Allies defend a tower, or farm in an empty lane (the latter part is exceptionally important for Nevermore as he needs a lot of farm before he becomes effective in the Middle Game). Wraith Bands help him get last hits and gives him a lot more damage.

Boots of Travel gives him plenty of speed and much more farm, Black King Bar gives him magic invulnerability for a certain period of time and Kelen’s Dagger can be used as an escape mechanism, or used offensively as a blink to land your Ultimate right in the center of a team battle.

Shadow Fiend Luxury Items

 +  or  

Manta Style is a good item that increases your DPS by more than 2-fold. In most cases it’s going to be your first DPS item. You gain plenty of Stats, extra movement speed (on top of your Boots of Travel or Power Treads) and on top of that, a temporary-invulnerability activation that allows you to dodge most targeted spells in DotA. Your images do huge amounts of extra damage and the extra damage multiplies when you get other DPS items. The only downside is that your images don't benefit from the +60 damage from Necromastery, however.

The butterfly is a must for any Agility-carry hero. Lifesteal is something that every DPS-carry will eventually need.

A set of Stygian Desolator and Assault Cuirass is a good combo when you’re playing against a lot of vulnerable spellcasters, or if you team is based around an anti-armour theme (such as Nevermore + Slarder + Lanaya Combo). Just make sure that you have BKB so that they don’t nuke you to death before you can even get your hands on them.

Shadow Fiend Strategy

Picking this hero is suitable when your team needs an AoE Carry. Nevermore is incredibly versatile as a hero. Not only is he an excellent ganker, but he also excels as a pusher, has lots of AoE and DPS and can step up as a Carry should the need arise. He’s also incredibly fun to play, which means Nevermore is one of the most often seen heroes in DotA videos and various montages. Unfortunately, Nevermore is not a DPS hero, unlike what most people think of Nevermore. He is an AoE carry, his advantage over other carry heroes (such as Phantom Assassin) being his insane farming speed and the +60 damage thanks to Necromastery.

You need to be supported by:
- Heroes with big AoE Ultimates, such as Leviathan, Raigor, Rooftrellen, Rexxar andMagnus. They can help you landing ultimate perfectly.
- Heroes with mass-disables or Abilities such as Puck, Rylai, Ogre Magi, Rhasta, Lion, Dark Seer and Purist. They can help you land that Ultimate or a couple of razes, so have them on your team never hurts. Ogre’s Bloodlust helps, too. Dark Seer’s Vacuum works wonders with Requiem of Souls. Purist's Repel gives you a free BKB and his Ultimate is a team-saver.
- Heroes having anti-armour such as Slardar, Dazzle and Vengeful Spirit. They are Great anti-armour synergy. Works incredibly well in a team, especially with Stygian Desolator and Assault Cuirass.

Beware of his counter:
- Heroes with some sort of ability that can go through your BKB such as Treant, Rexxar, Atropos, Vengeful Spirit and Pudge. Be very careful in team battles when you see those guys around. With Treant Protector, however, you can actually wait till he casts his Ultimate, and if you then activate your BKB, you will no longer be disabled. Make sure you get the order right! Wait for Treant’s Ultimate, then BKB! (Manta Style works too)
- Insanely fast pushers who can easily push back that massive creep wave you’ve just created/sent, such as Furion, Morphling, Pit Lord, Akasha and Tinker. Tinker is particularly annoying as he can push all three lanes at the same time and his Rearm can be very annoying when he starts perma-hexing you. Try ganking Tinker as often as possible and farm that BKB ASAP.

Before you play in the real game you should practice first for using Shadowraze skill. To some extent, mastering Shadowraze is essentially mastering Nevermore. Practice makes perfect. Pay attention to two thing when you try to mastering Shadowraze:
- Nevermore direction. Don't let nevermore look towards wrong direction from the target.
- Target distance from Nevermore position. Use 'Z' when near, 'X' when average, 'C' when far.

In early minutes, you should put him in the solo lane. Nevermore’s ability to solo lay not in his starting damage, but in his excellent missile speed, his attack range and his Base Attack Time, not to mention his ability Necromastery that gives him a tremendous boost in damage in the early-middle game. Conserve your mana, farm as good as possible and keep survive. Cast Shadowraze when possible both to harass your enemy and to farm fluently.

In the mid game, you should combine gank with farm (around 25 % gank with 75 % farm) and try farm your vital items before the 30th minute mark so that you have the necessary means to unleash your fury in team battles. Once again, one must remember Nevermore is all about his AoE damage, not his DPS. It is important to never over-farm with Nevermore. He can’t beat Phantom Assassin. He can’t beat Drow Ranger. In fact, he can’t even beat Sven. But dealing raw damage isn’t what Nevermore is BEST at. Nevermore can deal a huge amount of AoE damage and that’s what makes or breaks those mid-game team battles. Make sure you get those razes right, get your Ulti out in time, and farm that BKB ASAP.

In team battles, Nevermore is a poor initiator but is a brilliant hero for dealing huge amounts of AoE damage and mopping up the battlefield, so to speak. Check if there are heroes on the other side who have Ultimates that can go through BKB (such as Beastmaster’s Primal Roar, Doom Bringer’s Doom). Wait till those Ultimates have already been used, and/or they are already stunned, before landing your ultimate.

Before take your role in team battles, you should ensure that you have collected 30 souls so your ultimate can be powerful. Here are some steps when you will entering team battle to take your role:
1. Make sure you have a cool head, because the next few seconds can decide the fate of your team.
2. Walk up to the battle, preferably at the maximum distance of your blink (which is around 1150) which corresponds to around two-thirds the length of your screen.
3. Activate BKB FIRST. This means that you’re invulnerable to magic BEFORE you blink in, because you won’t want to get stunned and get totally trashed once you’re in there.
4. Blink in, then quickly press ‘R’ to active Requiem of Souls.
5. Use your Shadowrazes to mop up any resistance, snuck in some normal attacks if possible.

Based on: Playdota Guide

This post contain Nevermore Guide & Build - The Shadow Fiend Strategy. If you have different build or strategy, you can give your comments or make your own guide on the Shadow Fiend Forum.


Anub'seran the Nerubian Weaver Guide


Viper the Netherdrake Guide


Terrorblade the Soul Keeper Guide

Terrorblade Guide & Build, Terrorblade the Soul Keeper Strategy. Terrorblade is one of carry that can turn out the tide of the game if he got his items. This post contains Terrorblade the Soul Keeper guide, item build, skill build and strategy.

Terrorblade is the twin brother of the Anti-Mage. Both of Night Elf descent, Terrorblade was drawn in by the powers of the Undead, plunging deeper into the abyss of no return, growing large, gargoyle-like wings to symbolize his breaking from the Night Elf world. Having mastered the art of image-creation and soul manipulation, he has the ability to transform into a fearsome and terrifying demonic form, obtaining the powers to hurl energy at his opponents. Large moonblades slashing, he is one to fear on the battlefield.







Strength - 15 + 1.9
Agility - 22 + 3.2 (Primary)
Intelligence- 19 + 1.75

Base damage 48-54
Attack range of 128 (melee)
Base Armor 5.1
Movement speed of 310


Skill Descriptions

Reflection (C)



Metamorphosis (T)



Transforms Terrorblade into a powerful Demon with a ranged attack and illusions.

Level 1 - no illusion
Level 2 - 1 illusion, dealing 10% damage
Level 3 - 1 illusion, dealing 15% damage
Level 4 - 2 illusions, dealing 20% damage

Extra base damage: 20/25/30/35
Cast Range: 250
Cooldown: 160/110/60
Mana Cost: 200/100/0

Quelling Blade is necessary for gathering gold in melee mode.
or you can grab Satanic - Lifesteal provide you with good survivability



Razor the Lightning Revenant Guide



Strygwyr the Bloodseeker Guide


Strygwyr the Bloodseeker Guide, Build and Strategy. Bloodseeker is pure ganker but yet can carry a team, one of my favourite hero. Let's check him out!

Strygwyr, The Bloodseeker

An unusual hybrid of Demon and Orc, Strygwyr is an outcast amongst all mortal creatures. By thriving on and bathing himself with the blood of those he slays, Strygwyr can heal his wounds - even those that could prove fatal. Beware the fool who dares venturing alone, for Strygwyr can sense his blood miles away and gain vision through his helpless prey's eyes. Having ruptured the enemy with mighty blows in his bloodthirsty frenzies, Strygwyr corners his foe into making the impossible decision - bleed to death by trying to outrun the hasty demon, or be ripped to shreds in its awesome fury.

Base stats
Base Damage: 53 - 59
Base Armor: 5.4
Primary Attribute: Agility
Strength: 23 + 2
Agility: 24 + 2.6
Intelligence: 18 + 1.7
Movespeed: 305

He has slightly above movement speed which is good, a rather decent strength and agility gain which definatly helps and his intelligence gain isn't all that great but still, you only cast 2 spells and they don't take THAT much mana so it doesn't affect us.

Bloodseeker Skills

Bloodrage
Drives a unit into a bloodthirsty rage. That unit is unable to cast spells, has it's attack damage increased, and loses a small amount of hitpoints every second.


Level 1: Lasts 6 seconds, 20% damage increase, loses 20 HP per second.
Level 2: Lasts 9 seconds, 40% damage increase, loses 15 HP per second.
Level 3: Lasts 12 seconds, 60% damage increase, loses 10 HP per second.
Level 4: Lasts 15 seconds, 80% damage increase, loses 5 HP per second.

80 mana cost and 10 second cooldown at all levels.

Several things about this skill, first it damages the unit, secondly it increases the units damage, thirdly it silences the unit making it unable to cast spells. Now whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you, early game at level 1 it can be used to do 120 damage over 6 seconds to an enemy hero, at level 4 it can be used as MASSIVE damage increase to you or an allied hero. The uses for this skill vary depending on your situation or (sometimes) mood of what course of action to take.

Important notes:
It does higher damage at level 1 and lower at level 4, remember that when considering whether to cast it on allied or enemy units/heroes.
It silences the unit, meaning if you cast it on yourself you won't be able to cast any other spells. (Rupture)

Blood Bath
Whenever Strygwyr kills a unit, he bathes himself in blood, regenerating his life source.


Level 1: 10% of Heros max HP, 10% for creeps.
Level 2: 20% of Heros max HP, 15% for creeps.
Level 3: 30% of Heros max HP, 20% for creeps.
Level 4: 40% of Heros max HP, 25% for creeps.

Pretty amazing, actually, very amazing. A decent Strygwyr player won't even need tangos or salves if they can last hit like a pro, because in doing so, you heal. Some will say this is better then normal life steal and some will say it's worst. The best thing about this skill is it's a sign of no mercy, it means you won't stop till they're dead so you can recover your HP, you won't back down till they fall at your feet and when they do, you're home free to run away.

Important notes:
You heal if you KILL a unit or hero, that means get the gold, not just help.
You recover a higher percentage when killing heros, don't be afraid to fight till the death if you're sure of a kill.
If you kill a hero (especially strength based) you'll almost always recover to NEAR full HP.

Strygwyr's Thirst
Enables Strugwyr to sense the bleeding of an enermy hero below 40% HP, if it finds one, Strygwyr gains vision of that unit and increases movement speed.


Level 1: Area of effect: 1500, 11% movement speed.
Level 2: Area of effect: 3000, 22% movement speed.
Level 3: Area of effect: 4500, 33% movement speed.
Level 4: Area of effect: 6000, 44% movement speed.

Oh my favorite skill! This is what makes people fear you. This will send people running. (Literally!) I can't even begin to stress how deadly this skill is, at level 4 you control half the map with your insane movement speed and ability to see heros under 40% HP, if you see someone running away, chase that chicken. You gain FULL sight of them, that means they can't wind walk away, they have nothing to save them. Except of course, everyone's worst enemies; towers and disablers.

Important notes:
At level 4 it affects almost half the map of your current location.
At level 4 with power treads you get almost/max movement speed, so you can even catch lycan in his shapeshift form (since he'll run out of time and you won't )
After the hero with 40% or lower HP dies, the skill still takes effect for about 2-3 seconds after they've died, giving you a nice boost to get away.

Rupture (Ultimate)
Deals a mighty blow to the enemy causing any moment to result in bleeding and loss of life.


Level 1: Lasts 5 seconds, 150 mana cost, 150 damage, 20% of distance moved in damage.
Level 2: Lasts 7 seconds, 200 mana cost, 250 damage, 40% of distance moved in damage.
Level 3: Lasts 9 seconds, 250 mana cost, 350 damage, 60% of distance moved in damage.
70 seconds cooldown

Oh lawd, my other favorite skill. You know that situation "OMFG WHAT DO I DO?!" that's what people will be like if you use this skill on them, firstly in inflicts damage, secondly, the more they run, the quicker they die, thirdly if your opponent is sensible he'll stand still, giving you an open opportunity to run up and kill him for the gold AND EXP. (Since if he runs away off the screen you won't get the EXP:() This works great for team battles, if you see someone is badly hurt and is about to leg it away from the battle, cast this then go assist your team! They'll die in seconds due to the sheer awesomeness of this bad boy.

Skill Build
1. Blood Bath
2. Bloodrage
3. Strygwyr's Thirst/Blood Bath
4. Strygwyr's Thirst/Blood Bath
5. Strygwyr's Thirst/Blood Bath
6. Rupture
7. Blood Bath/Strygwyr's Thirst
8. Blood Bath/Strygwyr's Thirst
9. Blood Bath/Strygwyr's Thirst
10. Strygwyr's Thirst
11. Rupture
12. Bloodrage
13. Bloodrage
14. Bloodrage
15. Stats
16. Rupture
17-25. Stats

The typical Bloodseeker skill build, except for the point in Bloodrage at the start. This is used as a silence to escape some nasty spamming early kills like Zues or Lion and to silence and kill them. It shouldn't be used as a damage boost at level 1 though, it's just not worth it. Blood Bath is a no-brainer, you need this to stay in your lane almost forever. You don't have much damage at early levels so Bloodrage is maxed out after Thirst. At level 6 it becomes possible for a kill.

Well, Blood Bath and Strygwyr's Thirst can be taken wherever you feel under different circumstances. Sometimes I get Strygwyr's Thirst maxed earlier over Blood Bath because I am last hitting and denying well, going for some kills and on high health. I might get Blood Bath maxed earlier because I need the precious health to stay in my lane. There is no 'set skill build' at level 3 and over, just mix it up and do what you think is necessary.

Item Build
Starting Items


Stout is key, attack harass from the enemy hero while you go in for the last hits is something thta can really hurt even the best of BS players, Stout goes a long way to solving this problem, and also turns into something useful later on. Flask gives you room for error in your last-hitting, and is taken over tangoes because you'll only ever really need item regen if you're very low and can't get close to creeps without dieing.

Core Items

Phase Boots give you a lot of what you need. The Armour + Damage helps you become very hard to keep out of lane, and are stat bonuses that you'll use all game. But what's really invuable here is the phase for so many different reasons.

First off, you get a little movespeed bonus, this can often allow you to get 2-3 crucial hits on a running opponent to proc your thirst. Furthermore, it can allow you to jet away after making a kill. Being able to run through creeps is a massive bonus, especially with a playstyle like BS's, you can find yourself blocked by creeps fractions of hp away from a kill. Phase allows you to dive through unhindered.

On top of this, one of any melee carry's biggest problems is always gonna be making sure you can focus the right hero in a fight. Phase means you can rush through and get right to the casters and key heroes to take them out.

This set of items is really important to my bloodseeker build. The conventional bloodseeker is a 800 hp moron who ruptures, rightclicks and then dies to tower. I try to mix things up a bit with my build, and instead of going for something retarded, Phase, 2 wraiths + Vanguard gives you a nice amount of hp (around 1.3-1.4k at ~lvl 11-13), LOADS of damage mitigation, with way above 15 armour as well as damage block. And still allows for some damage at the same time.

This sets you up to have some decent damage, loads of HP and loads of armour making you a seriuosly powerful diver and allowing you to survive until you get the kill.

The Damage

OR
As far as first damage item on bloodseeker goes i almost always take one of DIFFUSAL or DESOLATOR.

Generally, if the enemy has lots of weedy casters Diffusal is the better bet, giving you some extra chasing, fucktones of damage and purge. It should be taken against heroes such as Omni or Warlock for obvious reasons.

However, some heroes are not so vulnerable to a diffusal, str-tanks, in particular heroes like Lycan, Axe or Centaur, are not interested by your Diffusal, they can just turn and fight you in many cases. At times like this you'll want to go for a deso to increase your power when fighting head-to-head, as you won't have such an opportunity to use purge to make kills.

Both items have their perks, I don't really have a preference, you really have to read the game when deciding which one you make your choice.

Optional Core
Get BKB if you face heavily caster enemies. Yes, you got Bloodrage to silent your enemies, but if you're facing a lot of caster/stunner, BKB is a necessity.

Further items


I hesitate to build more HP than vanguard on Bloodseeker. The reason being that if you're killing in a fight then your HP levels should stay high and you can stay alive. So you're really best off making your hero deal a LOT of damage. By all means, make a BKB on him if circumstances dictate, but heart/satanic are just a no-no to me.

So now we have to decide on damage. Mathematically, and in most cases practically, Butterfly is the best thing you can get, phaseboots are not treads, and while you have a lot of + damage (especially with bloodrage on), your attackspeed leaves everything to be desired. The massive agility also gets amplified by your rage, which is obviously awesome.

However, there will be TIMES when you might want to go for radiance instead, these could be when you're up against something like Weaver, or perhaps a team with many dagger heroes where you want to make sure people aren't cheesing you out of kills with blink.

Now that we've got butterfly as core i'll discuss the other options you have. If you've gone diffusal originally then you'd probably want to complete your manta as soon as possible after Bfly, however, if opted for deso instead then you'll probably rather get hold of a Buriza to make use of low armour 1.1k crits (yes they are that high ).

Either build is ended with buriza/cuirass, both items are very powerful and at that stage in the game you really have to decide what you need yourself.

BKB is ASSUMED and you should always take it either straight after your first damage item (purge/deso) or straight after Bfly in games where it's necessary.

Tricks & Tips

Animation cancel, you are NOT lycan with 0.1 attack point, you have a big backswing, and if you cancel it you'll find yourself getting FAR more hits during a chase than if you rightclicked and went afk. -apm wins.

Bloodrage rapes casters SO hard, don't make the mistake of going into a gank/teamfight with it casted on yourself, trust me, zeus/QoP not being able to cast any spells for 16 seconds is FAR more important than a bloodseeker having + 80% damage. The second one can even go on a caster as well if you think it will win the fight, but often the damage can come on at that point as rupture is casted and you start getting up close and personal.

General stuff: Blood can't initiate teamfights by himself, so when drafting lineups you'll want to get hold of heroes with some AoE, having a hero like Tide/ES on your team who's beefy and can jump in with a dagger to get things started is invuable and gives you time to get a hold of the fight with some timely ruptures and bloodrages

Manta: If you're ever low and have a manta style, cast split and deny the images: straight to full hp. SO nice to run into fog with 400 hp and turn around and rape them when you're back with 2k. Since Dota 6.61, Bloodseeker no longer gain health from killing images :(

Well? What do you think about this Strygwyr Bloodseeker Guide & Build? Share your build here ;)


Slark the Murloc Nightcrawler Guide




Slark the Murloc Nightcrawler Guide and Strategy. Dota 6.65 give us 2 new heroes, one of them is Murloc Nightcrawler, Slark. We already see the teaser video for him, but now we can see all of his skills. Let's go!

Murloc Nightcrawler Skills & Stats 

Range: 128
Movement Speed: 305
Hero Type: Agility

Agility: 21 + 2.0
Strength: 21 + 1.0
Intelligence: 16 + 1.6



Dark Pact

Slark calls upon deities of the swamps to seal a dark pact. Sacrificing some of his lifeblood, Slark is redeemed of all negative effects. After 2 seconds, a dark wave of destruction emits from the Nightcrawler, dealing damage to himself as well as all nearby enemies.

Damage: 75/150/225/300
AoE: 325
Manacost: 55/50/45/40
Cooldown: 10

Deals half the damage to you immediately as part of the cost.

Tips: This skill also can remove you from negative buffs, which means you can remove Dust of Appearance effect and other tracking buff ;)

Pounce

Surges directly forward and latches on to the first enemy he hits, binding it with chains of darkness. The enemy is unable to move more than 275 distance away from the point of impact for 3.5 seconds.

Pounce Range: 400/500/600/700
Pounce Damage: 50/75/100/125
Leash Range: 275
Leash Duration: 3.5

Cooldown: 16
Manacost: 75

Note: Moves forward in the direction it is looking, this is not a target position cast.

Tips: Pounce works like Mirana's Leap. You will jump into the direction you're facing. A successful Pounce will bind your enemy for 3.25 seconds. When the enemies binded, they cannot leave from the area except from using Teleport/BKB. Mirana's Leap, Morphling Waveform and Blink will useless. If you're ganking with a stunner, maybe it's better to let him landed a stun first then when his stun is almost finish, quickly pounce him. It can be great tool for escaping too!

Essence Shift
Passive

Reciting ancient Nightcrawler incantations, Slark enchants his blade to steal the power and courage from his enemies. Every time Slark hits an enemy hero, he steals 1 point from all attributes and 1 additional from the main attribute of that enemy hero while Slark gains 4 points of Agility.

Duration: 15/30/45/60

Tips: You must note that even though you steal 1 of all attribute + 1 main attribute from your enemy, you gain only 4 agility and not 1 of all attribute + 1 main attribute. Has a 0.4 second cooldown.

Shadow Dance

Has an active and a passive portion

Covers himself with a dark smoke, he becomes invisible and does not reveal himself while attacking or casting spells for 5.5 seconds.

Passively increases Nightcrawler's movement speed and regeneration when he is out of sight of hostile units. Has a 0.7 delay when activated or deactivated.

Movement Speed: 30/35/40%
Health Regeneration: 2/3/4%

Active duration: 5.5 seconds
Cooldown: 25
Manacost: 120

Tips: This skill can be used as healing mechanism. If your HP is low, find a hidden place and recovers. If you use Shadow Dance when attacking the enemy, your movement speed and regen bonus is working, except the enemies cast dust or have gem. This skill also can detect if there's observer or not. If you're on a place and your passive did not work even though all the enemies is on other place, you can be sure that somewhere near there an observer ward is placed :)

Murloc Nightcrawler Item Build

Starting Items


You will need this to survive the line until getting your Shadow Dance. After get your ultimate, you won't need any HP regen items.

Core Items

Town Portal, Bracers, Strength Power Treads, Magic Wand, Diffusal/Sange Yasha/Desolator, Manta/BKB

Slark stats growth is really poor, especially his Strength. You will barely have only 1385 HP at level 25. Thats why you must get some HP items to avoid getting yourself killed before you have the chance to escape. Strength Power Treads and Bracers is barely enough to boost your survivability if you careful. Why not Vanguards? Many PPL recommend Vanguards, but i think it's a waste on him. You don't need the heals and you're also not a tank hero. Better spends those money on cheaper HP boost items like Bracers or even on Ogre Axe that can be used for BKB or Sange Yasha.

Now, which offensive items you must buy? Diffusal, Sange Yasha or Desolator? Personally, i like to have Diffusal on him. His role as a ganker will benefits much from the Purge as well as the mana burn. With a stunner mate and purge, a kill is almost guaranteed. However, Sange Yasha is also not too shabby. The MS boost will gives you max speed (522) whenever nobody see you. Desolator is also good since you are stolen their agility and reduce the armor.

What about Mask of Madness? Honestly, i don't think Mask of Madness fit him. It will force you to receive more damage and you're already fragile enough. The attack speed is great, but i think it's more fitted with Darkterror or Barathrum. RememberThe ms boost also an overkill since with Yasha and Shadow Dance you already get the max speed. If you didn't agree with me, share your thought on the comment section :)

BKB will be your main items if the enemies consist of nuker like Lion or Lina. One stun + Fingers from Lion will ensure a death to you. Of course you already have Shadow Dance which allow you to attack when invisible. But a decent player will always have dust on their inventory if you become a threat to them. Remember, you don't have a silence mechanism like Rikimaru's Smoke Screen.

Luxury Items


Butterfly will be your main luxury item, you will benefits from the agi boost and the evasion. Monkey King Bar is also a good choice if their carry is already get Butterfly. HoT will be your best items if you're being the main target. Even though the regen is somehow a waste compared to your ulti, HoT is still the best single HP boost item.

Murloc Nightcrawler Skill Build
1. Pounce
2. Essence Shift
3. Dark Pact
4. Dark Pact
5. Dark Pact
6. Shadow Dance
7. Dark Pact
8-10. Pounce
11. Shadow Dance
12-14. Essence Shift
15. Stats
16. Shadow Dance
17-25. Stats

Justification
Ok, i think this will be a little debatable. Why maxed Dark Pact first instead of the others? At first glance, i think Dark Pact is a poor skill compared to Pounce or Essence Shift. But after trying him several times, Dark Pact is magnificent. It deals 300 damage at 325 AoE with only 40 mana at level 4! Of course it also hurt you, but with right timing, it wouldn't be a problem because of your crazy regen. Murloc is a pure ganker. And Dark Pact is his only nuke that will help him get a kill on a gank. Not to mention that it also help you farming.

Pounce is maxed next because it's your chasing and escaping skills. Why not maxed Essence Shift first? I found it rather useless to max this early. 1 level of it is enough, the stats steal and agi stats addition work really nice. 15 seconds is more than enough on mid early-mid game which usually consist a lot of ganking.

Murloc Nightcrawler Strategy 
Early game, choose a side line, preferably with a stunner. Side line is a must since you will need the boots and build Power Treads a.s.a.p. Farm and try to get your ulti fast. However, if your lane enemies is lack of stunner, you can get a kill early. Getting first blood is easy if your Pounce successfully hit the enemy, of course with a decent backup.

Buy Magic Stick early if you got the money. It will help you to stay on the line and the fill your mana when needed. After get your Treads and ultimate, you can start ganking. Murloc is a nice ganker because he can get speed boost when changing line thank to his ulti. His insane regen also allow you to farm neutrals and immediately refill the HP.

If you're confident with your skills, use Pounce to open a gank. If you don't feel you can't hit it, let your friend stun the enemies first before land your Pounce. The binding is a great loss if you miss it. Use Shadow Dance only when you need it, it cost some quite mana. If your Pounce successfully hit, on most case you won't need the Shadow Dance.

However, you must use Shadow Dance on certain enemies, especially if it is a heavy nuker like Lion. Of course, check if he has a Dust or not before start attacking. Remember, Pounce bind is not a stun. The enemies still can attack and use a spell on you. If your gank is failed and your HP is low, stay calm and walk into jungle/rune spot while regen. If you're getting ganked, use Pounce to escape and immediately use Shadow Dance. Usually the enemies won't be able to catch you up.

In a team battle, watch your role. Murloc is really fragile and easily get killed if the enemies focus on you. Let your team open the wars and immediately focus on your team target (usually the enemy carry) or finish the low HP hero.

Murloc Nightcrawler Summary
He is a nice hero that have great potential for ganking and anti-ward radar capabilites. His skills is synergies well. Even though he is really strong ganker, he also fragile and easily counterable with Gem/Dust. So, he is not that imbalance :)

Do you already thought about your Slark the Murloc Nightcrawler Guide & Strategy? Share it here! Don't forget that you can make your own guide on Slark the Murloc Nightcrawler Forum :)