Necrophos/Guide

Durable Caster
Necrophos is most effective when he stands in the middle of a fight, thus, in the front line. In early game, can turn small skirmishes in Necrophos's team favor as it bolster his allies while wither his enemies away. Later, when is obtained, Necrophos can effectively swing a losing fight back to his favor immediately combining  with  for massive AoE healing. Due to low cooldown and how quickly  can tick away affected enemies' health, Necrophos can slowly and eventually shift the balance of health between his team and the opponents to his side, take away an important member of his enemies' team with  and win the fight. Despite being a front-line caster, Necrophos should never be the center of attention as he is naturally squishy and can only out survived his opponents when a fight is dragged long enough for him to take advantage of the weakened enemies.

is crucial for this build as it provide the much needed survivability for Necrophos. The earlier you get, the better.

A or  can be obtained to cover Necrophos weak mobility and allow him to quickly position himself after his team initiation or to escape a losing fight.

Should Necrophos be noticed and frequently focused in teamfight, consider to get and/or  to temporally divert his enemies' attention.

It is better to get armor/resistance items like or  over flat HP bonuses like  due to how Effective HP work with healing.

may be considered for a shorter cooldown and often useage during a teamfight.

Durable Caster style is effective for early 4-5 man pushing, provided that is obtained early enough.

Being a Durable Caster is standard for Necrophos and should be used as the first step of playing Necrophos before considering other styles.

Heavy Nuker
With Necrophos can nuke an important target into smithereens immediately when a fight begin with the help of,   and/or. When Necrophos successfully pulls off a combo off >  >  >  (note: Reaper's Scythe has 1.5 second delay before damaging the target, thus, all abilities cast after  must be fit within this time window) he can take out most heroes, and with  equipped, he can make sure that whoever the poor soul was cannot return to the fight by using it's gold to buyback. This capability of preventing buyback of Necrophos is extremely valuable in late game as most players will have excessive gold to buyback else they have to wait for a long time due to how death timer scale with level. Therefore, denying buyback and adding 30s to the death timer is deadly in lategame. With, Necrophos can either take down an extremely durable target or delete 2 heroes from the fight. Heavy Nuker Necrophos is very aggressive but also extremely squishy as his only way to survive is to make use of by killing his opponents as fast as he can.

and/or must be obtained to cover Necrophos weak mobility and allow him to position himself properly to surprise and pick off important target, shadowblade and silveredge is possible for escape and works well with radiance

A and/or  are core for this playstyle as Necrophos cannot effective burst a target by himself without any helps.

must be considered for this build, more than Durable Caster style as it expand the 1 hit KO threshold (from 40% health to 47% without any other resistance items) and it also deny buyback which is crucial for Heavy Nuker style as the top priority for it is to take out important target as fast as you can and prevent them from coming back.

is also crucial as double with  can single handedly win a game by taking out 2 important targets like carry or semi-carry or just to pick off an important core for a final push.

Ability Builds
A very standard build for Necrophos. It is important to know that every cast count as  is not invested enough to sustain you in favor of higher offensiveness. When early game combat start, you must linger around your opponents within the range to deny your enemies low early game health regeneration, advance with  available to make sure that you can survive incoming damage or bait your opponents aggressiveness near your tower just only to swing it back at them with. The hard part of this build is to sustain yourself in lane, thus, try your best to take last hit without using or at least harass your opponents with  while also take out at least a creep per cast.

General

 * Necrophos is countered in lane by any hero with high health regeneration, such as and Quas-focused, or a hero with lifesteal capabilities; because he relies on inflicting constant, gradual damage with  and . Heroes with these attributes will resist this in lane against Necrophos, keeping high enough health to prevent death by.
 * combined with an will greatly increase your chance at winning the match if it reaches the late game. If you manage to kill 2 enemy heroes in succession, the inability to use Buyback and the sheer duration of their respawn time ((5 + 3.8 × (Hero Level)) + 30 + (25% of remaining time if Buyback is used just before)) might be enough to decide the match, more so if the victims are key heroes in their lineup.
 * can very easily be built as a tank and in most circumstances should be; you may gear for strength (he does not need excessive intelligence as his basic attacks are not too useful, and Sadist refunds mana for each kill he gets). The reason he is usually built as a tank is because he needs to stay alive in violent encounters to heal his allies (a good enemy team will focus him first), and also because the longer he is alive for, the more damage his aura will do and the better chance he has of landing a crucial.
 * Though it may be a bit wise to build some mana pool increasing items such as, Point Booster or other Intelligence items anyway, because if Necrophos has used all his abilities and failed to get a kill, he can wind up unable to cast any more of his spells, and if his auto attack is not too great, getting last hits to regenerate some mana can be problematic.
 * Utility items, such as, and  are more useful for Necrophos, because he can inflict constant damage with  simply by avoiding death and synergizes with his  to keep his team alive. In that sense,  is also a viable luxury item for Utility Necrophos as it will greatly increase his durability while also providing a useful team ability.
 * is a viable item for Necrophos because of his durability. This also synergizes well with making prolonged team-fights a dangerous prospect for the enemy team.
 * Necrophos is effective against invisible heroes that tend to stalk their prey as his does damage while they are in stealth, his  hits invisible units, and his Reaper's Scythe will prevent them from escaping via invisibility before they die. He is also very good against heroes with abilities that deplete their own health such as, , and  ( is an exception since his Berserker's Blood will almost always prevent you from killing him with Reaper's Scythe), but Necrophos should first be durable enough to take on these kinds of risk/reward heroes.
 * Necrophos's role is notoriously debated; while his abilities appear supportive at their core, his is a tool used to secure kills only for himself (much like 's Culling Blade). This is atypical for a standard support hero, because supports usually attempt to confer gold and experience to the team's carry. The duplicity of his carry/support role stems from his unique stance in encounters; his kit is largely supportive until an enemy hero grows weak, at which point Necrophos has the capacity to kill said enemy himself. He is best viewed as a utility focused semi-carry, rather than a full-fledged support hero.
 * is more useful on Necrophos than other heroes because it not only deals burst damage, but also allows you to quickly deal more damage from your ultimate.
 * can be used in conjunction with and  to deal significantly more damage. If you are also in a possession of a high level, a quick Reaper's Scythe to Ether Blast to Energy Burst combo can decimate full health enemy heroes with total health points lower than 2000, assuming they have the standard 25% magic resistance.
 * It is worth noting that Ether Blast temporarily increases the magical damage dealt per missing health from the standard 0.4/0.6/0.9 ( 0.6/0.9/1.2) to 0.56/0.84/1.26 ( 0.84/1.26/1.68), thus also increases the instant-kill threshold.
 * Assuming a level 5 Energy Burst and a level 3 Reaper's Scythe with an is used against an enemy with 25% magic resistance while being ethereal, you will deal 840 damage from Dagon and 1058.4 damage from Reaper's Scythe, to a total of 1898.4 damage (not including damage from Ether Blast and Reaper's Scythe damage due to it). If the match reaches the late-game, you still can burst down a full health non-magic-immune enemy carry with standard magic resistance during teamfights, potentially turning it into your team's favor.
 * is a viable item if you plan to do an aggressive approach as your Death Pulse will heal Necrophos for 130 + 50 per hero hit and reduce its cooldown to 3.75 seconds. If you also manage to kill an enemy with Reaper's Scythe, the massive damage coupled with the heal from Sadist will in some cases be enough to heal Necrophos from critically low health to full health. However, it is advised that you build a Bloodstone too because the Octarine Core will increase your mana consumption and is a lot less effective than Bloodstone at restoring mana.


 * As Necrophos's survivability heavily relies on his ability to spam you need to be wary of heroes with silence such as,  and .  can also greatly cripple you with  as this ability prevents health from regenerating for an extended period of time.
 * Necrophos excels at sustaining Deathballs due to his . If he's able to build a, he can keep the pressure up at the enemy lanes and prevent the enemy team from farming. If you can get it early enough, you can choose to build it before and/or  because it will drastically improve your survivability and so that you can store enough charges.


 * Heartstopper Aura in the early game allows to harass enemy heroes by simply standing near them. Its massive AoE will usually cause heroes to run out of their early game regeneration items quite fast.
 * Note however that the aura affects enemy creeps, and thus putting points in it will push the lane. Should you lane with a farm-dependent carry, it is unwise to push as it makes their farm more difficult and leaves both of you more vulnerable to ganks. Putting one or at the most two points in it is appropriate for early game.
 * If you're against a defensive tri-lane or playing as an Offlaner and the enemies in the lane lack disables, maxing first is a viable option if the enemy chooses to play passively. The massive degeneration will make it hard for the enemy to farm and in some cases they might ignore Necrophos until it is too late and their health is low enough for a kill with  or make them vulnerable to a gank. The same can be said if you are in a defensive trilane and the enemy has a tanky offlaner.
 * Don't neglect to use basic attacks to harass the enemy during laning phase. already negates their regeneration or at least hinder it significantly if they bought/rushed health regen items like  and  in anticipation. Even attacking them once in a while goes a long way because they can't readily recuperate the loss of health and will eventually force them to use their consumables or retreat.
 * If you are going for an early push strategy, an early in conjunction with your aura will work wonders and will make the lane a battle of attrition that they will lose from either using too much regen items or being too afraid to last hit. Unless of course, they have a naturally high health regen.
 * Due to the large range of Heartstopper Aura, heroes that practice toggling will be forced to stop toggling below 450 health at teamfights as turning off Unholy Strength will reduce their health to 1 and will die from Heartstopper Aura immediately after. If you are also a support and is not hard pressed to last hit, the range will also allow you to hide in trees to harass the enemy heroes in the lane without them knowing.


 * If you're planning to go in the mid lane, you can skip the Heartstopper Aura until level 10 if your enemy rushed their and you think your team-mates cannot prevent your enemy from utilizing the runes. Putting skill points toward  instead will provide you with a good amount of sustain and will reduce the toll on your health and Mana when ganking the side lanes assuming you got the kill.


 * At level 3, Reaper's Scythe will kill targets at 40% or less health (with it's generally any amount under 45%). Remember to factor in Magic Resistance before you attempt to execute an enemy hero with it. Remember that this ultimate adds additional time to its victim's respawn timer and with Aghanim's Scepter it prevents them from buying back. In later stages of the game this can prove very important in removing key enemy heroes from the fight for a very long time.
 * The instant-kill health threshold, with the base 25% magic resist factored in and without Aghanim's Scepter, can be calculated by multiplying the enemy max health with the constants: 3/13, 9/29, or 27/67 for each respective level of the ultimate. With the Scepter, the values change to 9/29, 27/67, and 9/19. Example: If  has 700 max health; 700 * 3/13 = 161. Id est, she must have 161 or less health to be killed by level 1 Reaper's Scythe without Scepter.
 * The philosophy behind is that (owing to ) it will return its mana expenditure if you secure a kill. There are several situations in which this ability should be used purely for its stun, such as interrupting channeled ultimates (such as those belonging to  or ) or preventing an enemy hero from escaping. Remember that the stun goes through magic immunity, although the damage will not.
 * Keep in mind that Reaper's Scythe is not a channeling ability, meaning you can move the moment you have cast it. As such, it can be used to escape ganks and chases.
 * Because you can cast during the stun, you can use it to initiate on an enemy hero to keep them from escaping or using assuming you can cause enough damage in 1.5 seconds. You can instant-kill with this tactic if you are paired with a high burst damage hero such as  or  or, or if you are in possession of a high level  and an.
 * If the situation permits, you should focus on using only on the same enemy (preferably the carry) throughout the match. The extension of the respawn time will add up and will cause a significant reduction to the enemy's farm. To put it into perspective, if you manage to kill the same enemy hero twice, it will already make their farm a minute late more than usual if killed by anybody else. This will cause heroes who depend on snowballing early like  to become almost useless in mid to late game as their chance to snowball will be greatly reduced, or make the enemy carry under-prepared to tackle your team's carry hero.

Items
Starting items:
 * es give nice, cheap bonuses and can be used to build a or a  later.
 * to keep being able to cast Death Pulse when needed.
 * gives a little boost to Necrophos' mana pool.
 * and a set of s make you much more durable in lane. Use these items rather than your if you wish to heal yourself without wasting mana and pushing the lane.

Early game:
 * is bought because of the regeneration it provides against enemies who spam their spells. It's also used to make a.
 * make you go faster and can be upgraded.
 * gives more attributes and more health regeneration. It's used to make a Mekansm.

Core items:
 * provides you with attributes and a useful ability to regenerate mana and health.
 * give you more durability if left on Strength, or more mana if switched to Intelligence. The attack speed makes it easier for you to weaken an enemy, and then kill him with.
 * makes your ultimate more reliable and powerful, while giving nice attributes, health, and mana. It also prevents your victim from buying back which can become really useful late in the game if you can kill a key enemy hero.
 * gives you some very cost and slot-effective health and mana. It can then be left as a stand-alone item (a "casual" point booster) or be used to build an, a , or a full-on.
 * is a casual purchasable for every hero, whether to escape a gank or assist in one.
 * solve his mobility problem and will allow you to hide before entering teamfights as to not be initiated on by the other team since Necrophos would probably be the first target because of his sustain and proper positioning could make the difference between saving one of your team mates or being able to cast Reaper's Scythe on the enemy carry. It will also allow you to play more aggressively and give you a proper escape mechanism instead of just walking away.

Situational items:
 * may be a better alternative, as it gives Intelligence (therefore, more mana), a little bit more regeneration to help with sustaining yourself, and gives a quick method of movement even while under attack. Other uses also involve using it on allies to save them, or on ill-positioned enemies to perhaps push them closer to your team (or yourself) to be focused on.
 * is also highly viable for Necrophos. It gives stats that Necrophos very much needs: Health, Intelligence, and a long range slow with a short cooldown, allowing you and your team to catch up and let you cast your, or make the hero stay within longer which all can possibly secure you a kill. The active also can be used for escape or even buy enough time for your other abilities to be off cooldown or your teammate to arrive.
 * can be a wise choice if Necrophos already has other items to make him more lasting in teamfights. It gives a little boost of Intelligence, more Armor to add to your durability, and since Necrophos might usually need to be in the middle of everything, the active can dissuade enemies from focusing you down, giving them the risk of putting themselves in range for your ultimate.
 * grants more attributes, more armor, and more health regeneration, making you harder to kill. Its active ability is useful both for supporting and to save yourself from danger.
 * would be the better choice for supporting your team since you would have already built a Mekansm. Along with Death Pulse, keeping your team alive will be considerably easier as well as providing mana. Consider building Arcane Boots instead of Power Treads if you are planning to build this.
 * makes you tankier and gives much more mana, making you almost unkillable and able to spam your Death Pulse if you stay behind your allies, thanks to the regeneration it provides.
 * gives good attributes and mana regeneration. Its disable makes it easier to kill a powerful carry or an annoying support/initiator.
 * is a good item for teamfights: the armor and the aura it provides will discourage the enemy carry from attacking you, while its active ability places a slowing debuff on enemies, so that you'll be able to chase them and finish them off more easily.
 * gives much more health regeneration and increases your magic resistance. Its ability is useful if the enemy team has a great initiator: with this item you'll be able to partially counter him.
 * makes you a lot more tanky, increasing your health by 1150 health. A very important item to obtain if the enemy has highly mobile heroes who also deal high damage, as it will allow you to sustain their attacks for longer giving you a better chance of escaping.
 * synergizes well with Heartstopper Aura. Acquiring this will make your presence very strong during teamfights and help keep your lanes clear of enemy creeps due to the combined pure and magic damage. The 17% miss debuff is also a nice compliment to your already dangerous being.
 * can be bought to make you faster and able to push the lanes more effectively, thanks to your Death Pulse.
 * lowers the cooldown of Reaper's Scythe, allowing for more frequent kills and more downtime for the enemy team. In conjunction with Sadist, it provides a potentially large heal for the kills with Reaper's Scythe and makes Death's Pulse's healing more effective, immensely increasing Necrophos' longevity. If purchased with Radiance, you can even heal every second.
 * should be picked up if Necrophos finds himself to be a high priority target for the enemy. Since Necrophos is commonly built to be durable, he will be frequently seen in the front lines, thus letting Lotus Orb be used to its full potential.