Keeper of the Light

Ezalor the Keeper of the Light is a ranged Intelligence Hero famous for his reputation as a one-man support team. Supporting his allies in need, and pushing unguarded lanes with ease, Ezalor is a very valuable ally for any team. Having a variety of useful abilities, he can channel a powerful globe of intense light that can heavily damage an army of enemy creeps in the lane, allowing for an easy push; and manipulate the mana around him, restoring mana for himself and his allies or draining the mana of his enemy. His Ultimate allows him to gain his full power, giving Ezalor access to 2 sub-abilities and an improved existing ability, giving him six different abilities in total. Keeper of the Light requires patience, confidence and selfless behavior to play him well, as he is played as a support instead of a killer caster like most Intelligence gankers. His wide set of abilities also require good timing, reflexes, and knowledge to use well.

Tips

 * Keeper of the Light is an adept support who is capable of aiding his allies and hindering his enemies with his array of spells. He can be a strong babysitter whose presence greatly augments the power of a lane, and transition into a pusher and counter-pusher past the laning stage.
 * While he has very strong counter-pushing and support spells, Ezalor is also extremely fragile, with a mere 14 base strength, the lowest in the game (tied with ). As such, positioning is very important, as he needs to be close enough to cast his powerful spells yet also far enough away to be able to avoid being jumped on by the enemy.
 * Keeper of the Light is highly adept at pushing, as he can replenish teammates' and his own mana with Chakra Magic, allowing profligate use of spells, and Illuminate can severely damage if not outright kill entire creep waves. Along with his ability to re-position allies globally with Recall, Ezalor can be a force to be reckoned with at all points in the game.
 * Keeper of the Light is a very strong side-laner, able to use his spells to harass the enemy at range and support his team's spell-casting. He is in his element in the safe lane, although he can also be played in a dual off-lane to harass and threaten the enemy's safe-lane carry.
 * is a very strong channeled nuke that allows Keeper of the Light to output a large amount of damage on a very low cooldown.
 * Illuminate's strong creep-killing power makes Keeper of the Light a remarkably good farmer and counter-pusher considering his supportive role, as he can use it to either knock down large creep waves approaching a friendly tower or blast up to two neutral camps at once. As such, it is a very strong skill once maxed out, since its nuking power can allow him to farm up support items as needed.
 * However, remember that Illuminate will only deal more damage if it has been channeled for a longer duration, which is not always possible if the enemy is moving around in an attempt to avoid being an easy target. As such, it is not always wise to max out Illuminate as early as possible, since a level 2 Illuminate channeled for less than two seconds does the same amount of damage as a level 1 Illuminate channeled for the same duration, but costs more mana and requires a skill point.
 * If using Illuminate to harass or nuke an enemy player, try to cast it from the enemy's fog of war, such as behind the treeline, to give them as little warning as possible. As well, leading disables by teammates can immobilize an enemy long enough to channel the full duration of Illuminate during a gank.
 * Although Illuminate is extremely powerful for early-game pushing and harassment, it will disrupt the farm of Ezalor's lane partner if it is targeted on the entire creep wave, as it can potentially kill creeps and will push the wave closer to the enemy's tower where it is more dangerous to last-hit. If used, it should be aimed only to damage enemy heroes by targeting the wave either at an oblique angle or behind the creep wave.
 * Unlike most other magic nukes, Illuminate can affect siege creeps, further augmenting its pushing and counter-pushing power. When defending a tower, hitting the wave with Illuminate can severely weaken any siege creeps as well as the regular ones, making it easier to stop the push.
 * Illuminate reveals fog of war around Ezalor while channeling, making it a useful spell for gaining vision. Remember that charging it to fulmination increases its sight range; releasing it immediately will not be good for gaining sight.
 * is an unorthodox disable that destroys the enemy's mana as they attempt to move.
 * One point in Mana Leak can be powerful in the stage as it has a low mana cost and cooldown, allowing it to be spammed. It is best combined with Illuminate, as Keeper of the Light can cast Mana Leak on an enemy hero, then threaten them with Illuminate damage if they do not move out of the way.
 * Reducing the enemy's mana in-lane can make the lane safer for Keeper of the Light and his partner by preventing the enemy from going aggressive or harassing with their spells, and can set up kills as well by reducing their ability to cast escape spells and potentially stun them once they've lost all their mana. Successfully destroying enough of the enemy's mana pool can force them to leave the lane, as staying will threaten them with a stun every time Mana Leak comes off cooldown.
 * Remember that leveling up Mana Leak also improves its casting range, as well as the leak and stun duration. Taking early points can give Ezalor more teamfight and chasing potential as it can be cast on enemies from farther away, allowing it to be used from safety behind teammates or for catching fleeing enemies.
 * Because Mana Leak destroys mana as an expression of the target's maximum mana, it is disproportionately effective against heroes with large mana pools. As well, it can greatly hinder melee carries that have to move much closer to their targets to attack, resulting in increased distance moved and thus more mana destroyed.
 * While Mana Leak can severely hinder an enemy's attempts to cast spells, it does not proc if the target blinks over short distances and does not affect spell immune or invulnerable enemies. Be sure to choose your targets wisely, as certain heroes can simply ignore its effects.
 * Try to cast Mana Leak as early as possible in teamfights, as the enemy may be forced to move closer in order to engage your teammates, and thus lose a sizable portion of their mana earlier. Under the right circumstances, it may be possible to destroy enough of an enemy's mana that they will run out in the middle of the fight and be unable to cast successive spells.
 * One useful utility for Mana Leak is to halt pursuing enemies. If an enemy is trying to pursue Keeper of the Light or one of his allies, Mana Leak will cause them to lose mana as they continue to pursue, which can be enough to force them to break off. If the enemy chooses to continue, they may find themselves stunned at an inopportune time, unable to cast spells, and threatened with long-duration stuns from successive casts of Mana Leak.
 * allows Keeper of the Light to replenish a significant amount of mana for himself and his allies, ensuring that spells can always be cast.
 * Chakra Magic is extremely useful in lane as it can allow teammates with small mana pools or low cooldown spells to cast their abilities much more frequently. Heroes with strong disables but small mana pools like, , and  can use their stuns much more frequently to set up kills in the knowledge that Ezalor can replenish their mana afterward, while those with powerful harass spells like ,  and  can put continuous pressure on their lane opponents that would otherwise be impossible without a source of mana replenishment.
 * Due to its scaling, it is best to put at least two points into Chakra Magic in the laning stage, as its efficiency increases more than twofold. On top of providing more mana replenishment for allies, it also greatly increases Keeper of the Light's mana efficiently, allowing him to utilize his other spells more often.
 * Besides replenishing mana, Chakra Magic can reduce the cooldown of the next ability that the target uses in the next 12 seconds. This makes it a powerful ability to cast on teammates with low-cooldown disables and initiation spells, since it can allow them to use two stuns or nukes in quick succession, increasing the amount of crowd control available from a single spell. As well, it affects passive abilities with cooldowns, so abilities like, and  also benefit from the reduced cooldown.


 * gives Keeper of the Light access to several very powerful abilities. Besides Recall and Blinding Light, Illuminate may be cast remotely without standing still to channel it, making it a very powerful ability.
 * One of the most powerful uses for Spirit Form is to unlock remote channeling of Illuminate, allowing Keeper of the Light to set the spell in place and then move on to execute other actions while it builds up. A Spirit Form-boosted Illuminate allows Ezalor to take advantage of a fully-channeled Illuminate without the drawback of having to sit still to charge it up.
 * When being chased, don't be afraid to use Spirit Form to aid in your escape. While Mana Leak can discourage enemies from chasing you, you can also cast Blinding Light to knock back and blind chasing enemies, or cast Illuminate in the direction you are headed, either forcing the enemy to walk in front of the channeling spirit and take damage, or break off and allow you to escape.
 * Purchasing an Aghanim's Scepter greatly increases the power of Spirit Form, as Ezalor will always have access to its abilities, on top of gaining unobstructed vision and being able to heal allies with Illuminate during the daytime. Using Illuminate will allow Keeper of the Light to continuously heal allied creep waves and heroes, significantly boosting his pushing and sustain power, while the unobstructed vision gives his team a strong vision advantage, especially once combined with a Gem of True Sight.
 * allows Keeper of the Light to summon a teammate to his location after a short delay, making it an extremely powerful global mobility spell.
 * Recall will be dispelled if the target hero takes player-based damage, and thus it cannot be used effectively as an escape spell. However, it can be useful for bringing a teammate to a gank or teamfight if they are on another part of the map farming, or helping someone who has just respawned get back to the front lines faster.
 * Used wisely, Recall can allow Keeper of the Light to push, defend or gank far more effectively, as he can immediately summon reinforcements as needed. If the enemy are not defending one of their towers, summoning a pushing hero to Ezalor's side can allow his team to take the tower uncontested. If the enemy attempts to take a tower that is lightly defended, a teammate can be Recalled to push the wave back or even score a kill on the enemy. If Keeper of the Light finds himself near a gank target, he can bring in an ally with strong disables and initiating spells to pick the enemy off ahead of taking a map objective.
 * One useful way to use Recall is right after a buyback if the player does not have Boots of Travel. If a teammate has died in a teamfight and buys back, casting Recall on them can bring instant reinforcements to a teamfight, putting the enemy at a numerical disadvantage after wasting their time and spells on that teammate.
 * is a very powerful teamfight spell, as it will forcibly displace enemies as well as render a very high miss chance on them.
 * Blinding Light is best used in teamfights where the enemy has not purchased a Monkey King Bar, or has spell immunity or dispel abilities or items. The forced miss chance can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the enemy's physical attacks, giving your team and advantage.
 * Unlike most other forced movement abilities, Blinding Light will not interrupt enemies, thus it is useless for interrupting channeled spells. Try to use the spell only if the miss chance or displacement is needed.
 * However, combined with Mana Leak, Blinding Light can immediately destroy 20% of an affected enemy's maximum mana. If the enemy is channeling and needs to be interrupted, forcibly displacing them with Blinding Light after casting Mana Leak can potentially interrupt them if their mana is low enough. In other cases, the displacement can move them in a direction that forces them to traverse more terrain to reach their destination, augmenting Mana Leak's effects.
 * Keep in mind that Blinding Light's displacement can move enemies over terrain, so aimed properly it can displace a foe up or down a cliff wall. This can all but shut down an enemy carry if they are melee and do not have any re-positioning abilities to reverse the terrain displacement.
 * Due to his utility, Keeper of the Light can build many useful items that will benefit his team:
 * As a support, be sure to also upgrade the Animal Courier to a if the opportunity presents itself. As well, constant purchasing of s will allow you to de-ward the enemy, a crucial duty for supports.
 * can be built in place of a Bracer if players intend to roam more often. It provides the same amount of Strength as a Bracer, and the extra mana regen can reduce your reliance on casting Chakra Magic on yourself, giving you more time to cast it on allies instead. The active ability can add more damage to a gank, or be used as a source of healing for teammates throughout the game.
 * is a powerful utility item that gives Keeper of the Light more armor and some mana regen. As a ranged support, you have the ability to reduce an enemy's armor for your team to capitalize on, or give an ally more armor to extend their survivability. As well, it greatly helps when your team wants to kill Roshan.
 * is a good cheap item for giving Keeper of the Light survivability if he is constantly being jumped on by the enemy's carries. Immunity against physical damage will allow Ezalor time to cast more of his spells as needed.
 * is a useful survivability and utility item. It increases the size of Keeper of the Light's health pool and grants him evasion against physical attacks, however its active ability can also be cast from behind teammates to disarm the enemy's carry for a short time, useful if they have a that ignores Blinding Light's miss chance.

Trivia

 * Ezalor's design in Dota 2 makes several references to Gandalf, an iconic character from The Lord of the Rings book series.
 * His clothing is almost purely white, similar to Gandalf's attire.
 * Illuminate's wave animation are a group of stampeding white horses. This is similar to the spell Elrond cast on the torrent of water, at the ford of Bruinen, in the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. Additionally, it has similarities to his reinforcements at Helm's Deep during the second book, The Two Towers. This is also depicted in the splash art, with Ezalor taking Gandalf's place at the head of the charge.
 * The Mana Leak cast line Keep manaleak 05.mp3 "You shall not cast!" is a reference to one of Gandalf's most famous quotes: "You shall not pass!"
 * The respawn lines Keep respawn 12.mp3 "Ezalor... I think that's my name" is likely a reference to Gandalf "respawning" as The White: "Gandalf? ... Yes ... That was my name ... Gandalf the Grey."
 * One of Ezalor's cosmetic items, the Wise Cap of the First Light makes him look even more like Gandalf.
 * The lines Keep chakramagic 02.mp3 "Kundalini!" and Keep chakramagic 05.mp3 "The serpent of illumination stirs!" come, as well as the term "Chakra" are derived from Hinduism. Kundalini is described as a dormant inner strength, or "sleeping serpent waiting to be awakened".
 * ,, and  together represent the four fundamental forces of the universe with Ezalor representing the weak nuclear force. This is reflected in several of Enigma's responses to these heroes.
 * The rivalry line Keep rival 02.mp3 "And chaos fled!" may be a reference to an official bug that can occur when fighting the final boss of Final Fantasy, Chaos, as you can win the fight without damaging him (he simply just fled).
 * His rare line Keep rare 01.mp3 "I'll tell thee everything I can, there's little to relate." and Keep rare 02.mp3 "Very gladly will I drink your honor's noble health." are quotes of the poem by "Haddock's Eyes" by Lewis Carroll, a poem about a very odd old man.
 * His rare line keep rare 03.mp3 "I'll forego green girdles and questing beasts, for all such knightly trifles pale before the light." is a reference to the book The Sword in the Stone.