Do you want to know how to play Necrophos to win games in Dota 2?
Rotund’jere, the Necrophos, is an intelligence-based healer and nuker capable of adapting to multiple roles and item builds. He is perhaps among the select few heroes who can make an extremely long list of items. His tendency to fit into any playstyle makes learning how to play Necrophos in Dota 2 extremely lucrative.
Though an intelligence hero, he has a good strength gain and impressive healing abilities that let him absorb damage. Being this tanky also makes him a viable Offlane or mid-lane hero that can even initiate fights and frontline. Relatively low cooldowns across his abilities grant him the power to spam spells to dominate long team fights.
He also has a slight escape which allows him to negate all physical damage thrown at him. Moreover, having spells and mechanics that are easy to understand all play into the fact that he has a low skill cap. Thus, being this effortless to master makes knowing How to Play Necrophos in Dota 2 vital in low MMR brackets.
In the lane, Necrophos works quite well with heroes that either further supplements his healing or provide more buffs. Heroes like these include Oracle or Pugna who can help bring down enemies easier. As for heroes, he works well against, Bristleback and other tanks like Tidehunter are heroes that he can nuke quickly.
Necrophos’ Abilities
Death Pulse allows him to release a wave of pulses that damages hostiles and heals allies in a 500 radius. With a minimum cooldown of 2.5 seconds at max level with the appropriate talent, this spell becomes very spammable. Apart from this, it can also affect units that are invisible or in the fog of war.
His second ability is Ghost Shroud. Performing this spell disarms Necrophos and makes him invulnerable to physical damage as he slips into another realm. Slipping into this alternate realm allows him to emit an aura that slows enemies and increases his healing capabilities. He takes bonus magical damage as a cost for his buffs.
Necrophos’ passive ability that makes enemies lose health by just being near him is Heartstopper. Losing up to a maximum of 2.4% of one’s health per second is not the only buff it provides. This is because each creep or hero kill provides Necrophos with temporary stacks that give him bonus Health and Mana regen.
Reaper’s Scythe or his ultimate ability stuns and deals damage that depends on how much life the target is missing. A stun of 1.5 seconds also makes it a valid lockdown source, which Necrophos lacks. Apart from this, as soon as he casts the ability, any kill secured under the effect counts as his
How to Utilize his Abilities
Even at level 1, Death Pulse has a measly cooldown and an even more minimal mana cost. Thus, it is perfect for securing last hits in lane at close range, as using it for ranged creeps is beneficial. Unlike Necrophos’ base attack speed, the animation for Death Pulse is quite quick, making it effective for last-hitting creeps.
Along with many of its benefits, Ghost Shroud also amplifies self-healing. Keeping in mind this buff, one should use Ghost Shroud when using wand charges, salves, or death pulse to heal. Players should also be sensible when performing this spell because the save helps escape physical damage.
Many underestimate the farming heavily and sustain potential that Heartstopper brings to the table for Necrophos. An early level in Heartstopper makes sure that each time he secures the last hit, he gets excess regen. It also helps to stay close to the creep wave and frontline to make the most of its over-time damage.
Reaper’s Scythe is insanely overpowered if one knows how to use it accurately. At its max level, it will likely kill any target will less than 40% HP. One, however, does have to factor in magic resistance. Its best use is first to lock enemy cores down, then burst them down with our team’s help.
Item Build
In the early game, Necrophos has low base stats making him quite weak without levels. To boost these attributes of his, many focus on getting two to three iron branches and Circlets. Moreover, buying Mantle of Intelligence to further one’s items into Nulls for his advanced spell casting is the ideal way.
As the article states above, Necrophos can build many items and is capable of playing both defensive and aggressive. As far as defensive builds go, he should focus on making multiple auras like Mekanism and Hood of Defiance. These items are then built up into their upgrades, namely Guardian Greaves and Pipe of Insight.
Late Game:
Once the game goes late, further items in the defensive category include the Lotus Orb and Shiva’s Guard. The Lotus Orb provides another element of defense for one’s team, and the Shiva’s Guard slows and debuffs enemies. Moreover, a vital item to Necrophos’ arsenal is the Aghanim’s Shard which makes his abilities much more potent.
Aggressive builds also suit Necrophos incredibly well as he has consistent sources of damage. One of the most popular items is Radiance, which appears in most Necrophos games across the month. This particular item is another source of DPS like Heartstopper and makes it impossible to focus Necrophos in fights.
This build is also usually coupled with the Aghanim’s Shard because of its property of the Ethereal effect. Apart from this, the Scythe of Vyse is an incredible lockdown spell and helps Necrophos really deal layers of damage. This also becomes useful as because of this item, he does not have to use Reaper’s Scythe to disable enemies.
Gameplay
Necrophos thrives in all lanes but is often played in the Offlane and Midlane because of the early pushing potential. To survive and make the most of one’s lane, it is best to max Death Pulse. Besides this, putting singular levels in both Heartstopper and Ghost Shroud for efficiency in lane is usually what one follows.
Laning Stage:
Necrophos is one of the most dominant Laners in the game because of these spells. Winning the lane is not a problem for him, and he walks out with the last hits even if he loses the lane. Moving on to the midgame, where Necrophos hits a power spike with level 12 and Aghanim’s Shard. This combo becomes very hard for any under-farmed carry to deal with.
Smoking with supports equipped with stuns is the best way to extend one’s lead when he is strong. Good magic damage allows him to make short work of any half-farmed and ill-equipped carry. The extended death timer also slows down the farm even more than before. Having his ultimate off cooldown is the sign of a bad Necrophos player.
In the late game, where he can slowly start to fall off, Necrophos shifts into the tanking role. At this stage, front lining to absorb as much of the enemy damage while spamming spells is key. Even if enemies try to kill Necrophos quickly, they fail and thus set up the opportunity to turn against them. This becomes key in winning drown-out fights.
Necrophos is one of the more popular Offlanes with his multiple appearances in the recent major and tournaments. This all comes up from the fact that he has heals, nukes, and even a slight lockdown while being self-sufficient. Not only this, but he can also become a tank, thus making How to Play Necrophos in Dota 2 essential.
