Necrophos/Guide

Offlane (Durable)
Necrophos is effective when he stands in the middle of a fight. The focus of the build is to spam Death Pulse and help teammates to stay alive. and are common items for offlane Necrophos. Necrophos should never be the center of attention as he is naturally squishy and can only out survive his opponents when a fight is dragged long enough. The build is effective for early 4-5 man pushing. Durable Caster is standard build for Necrophos and should be used as the first step of playing Necrophos before considering other styles.

Midlane (Nuker)
Necrophos can sometimes be played as a nuker, starting in midlane and building item like and. Necrophos can nuke an important target with Reaper's Scythe > >  > Death Pulse combo (Note: Reaper's Scythe has 1.5 second delay before damaging the target. Thus, all abilities cast after Reaper's Scythe must be fit within this time window). A Heavy Nuker Necrophos can be very aggressive but also extremely squishy as his only way to survive is to make use of Death Pulse by killing his opponents as fast as he can.

General

 * Necrophos can thrive in all three lanes, but is most commonly played as a midlaner, where it is safer to push the lane with Death Pulse and he can secure many levels and farm. The offlane can work if the matchup is highly favorable, or with an aggressive support. Safelane Necrophos is a niche pick that typically works well with early game deathball pushes but is perfectly viable if your other lanes can compensate for other damage types.
 * Necrophos is strong in laning stage because of his Death Pulse and Heartstopper Aura passives. Successfully denying or last hitting to accrue Heartstopper Aura stacks while keeping the enemy in range of Heartstopper will gradually swing the lane in your favor.
 * Necrophos is prone to ganks. Make sure not to overextend, and avoid prematurely using Ghost Shroud against magical nukers.
 * Prioritize the enemy carry or mid when using Reaper's Scythe.
 * When teamfighting as Necrophos, you should aim to gradually swing the teamfight in your favor. After shutting out key enemy heroes with your Scythe, use your powerful regeneration (from Death Pulse stacks and Ghost Shroud) to surprise your enemies with a large heal. Your goal is to stay alive for as long as possible, in order to maximize Heartstopper, gather Heartstopper aura stacks, and heal your allies. This is also why your late game itemisation should include ample survivability.


 * In laning stage, Death Pulse is good for both harassing enemy hero and securing last hits.
 * Try to get close to enemy hero when using the ability when lasthitting.
 * Make sure to take both last hits and denies, as Necrophos will benefit from Heartstopper Aura's passive.
 * Death Pulse has a very short casting animation, ideal for lasthitting.
 * Consider Death Pulse's slow projectile speed. Sometimes, Necrophos may miss getting the last hit.
 * Though Death Pulse has high mana cost, Necrophos can use it often in the early game to last hit and get mana regeneration from Heartstopper Aura.
 * Using Death Pulse will cancel channeling.
 * After obtaining a mana regeneration item, Death Pulse can keep your allies and creeps healthy, which is especially important for pushing with a group.
 * Remember that Death Pulse is able to target invisible units. If you believe you are near an unseen enemy, don't be afraid to use it, as its skulls may locate their position.
 * However, it will give away the position of an invisible ally, as the spell leads towards them. Consider using your or  instead to heal them.


 * Use Ghost Shroud when near death to amplify any healing, such as Death Pulse stacks and . It is extremely potent when combined with a Magic Wand, provided it has enough stacks.
 * When being ganked by the enemy, use your stacks right after activating Death Pulse to greatly amplify both the HP and mana you've received. This will allow to turn the tides of the battle.
 * Ghost Shroud also amplifies any mana received. Use it when is about to be used.
 * Use Ghost Shroud at the fountain to regenerate much faster.
 * Use Ghost Shroud to chase down enemy heroes, provided they won't turn around on you with burst magical damage.
 * As Ghost Shroud negates physical damage, use it when expecting physical burst damage, such as, or when diving towers.
 * Be sensible when using Ghost Shroud.
 * Be sure not to get nuked as Ghost Shroud also amplifies any magical damage received.
 * It has a long cooldown and can typically only be used, at most, twice in a teamfight.
 * Ghost Shroud does not dispel any effect Necrophos has.
 * Do not to stack Ghost Shroud with . Time it properly.
 * Do not use Ghost Shroud while using a as it will get canceled. Cast it before using TP.
 * If using Ghost Shroud purely to regenerate when not fighting, it takes 67 mana gained before Ghost Shroud's amplification to outweigh the manacost.
 * Based simply on mana regen, whether natural or from Heartstopper Aura, this amounts to 22.2/19/16.7/14.8 mana per second before the amplification.


 * An early point in Heartstopper Aura will help with the laning stage.
 * Investing another point in it may not be worth it, as it deals damage based on health percentage.
 * Make sure enemy heroes are within the Heartstopper Aura radius.
 * A creep on low health will likely die to Heartstopper Aura if Necrophos misses the last hit.
 * Consider leveling up Heartstopper Aura after both Death Pulse and Ghost Shroud, as it is more effective later in the game when your adversaries have higher amounts of health. If your enemy's line-up has many naturally high health targets (e.g. strength heroes like or ), you can level it up earlier on.
 * The damage of Heartstopper Aura pierces spell immunity, while your other damaging abilities do not. Consider staying near and right-clicking enemies with activated to assist your team during a fight if the fight is in your team's favor.


 * At level 3, Reaper's Scythe will probably kill targets at 40% or less health. Remember to factor in magic resistance from items and abilities before you attempt to execute an enemy hero with it.
 * Any kill under Reaper's Scythe will be credited to Necrophos, replenishing his mana and health.
 * Reaper's Scythe is not a channeling ability, meaning you can move the moment you have cast it.
 * 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 window using burst damages, such as, , , , or.
 * Secured kills from Reaper's Scythe will grant you enough Death Pulse stacks to turn around an unfavorable fight, especially in combination with Ghost Shroud.

Items
Starting items:
 * improves Necrophos's early stats as well as damage and can be built into a later on.
 * to keep being able to cast Death Pulse when needed.
 * gives a little boost to Necrophos' mana pool and damage.
 * helps Necrophos stay in the lane.
 * for quick regeneration of health.
 * helps Necrophos' somewhat low base damage and clutch heal if running mid.

Early game:
 * grants burst health and mana, which Ghost Shroud can amplify, so Necrophos can survive or have enough mana to use Death Pulse or Reaper's Scythe.
 * allows Necrophos to switch between intelligence for mana, and strength for health.
 * provides increased mobility, damage for last hitting, and armor for survivability.
 * helps sustain Necrophos's mana in conjunction with his innate regen, and builds into Guardian Greaves.
 * gives cheap attributes and a bit of extra damage output to give Necrophos an edge in lane.

Mid game:
 * gives Necrophos a powerful burst heal and mana restoration, especially paired with Ghost Shroud, helping him stay alive for longer, and allows him to support his team.
 * increases magic resistance and absorbs magical damage to protect Necrophos during Ghost Shroud.
 * gives intelligence, health regeneration, and escape. Use it to save yourself and allies, or push enemy heroes into your team.
 * synergizes well with Heartstopper Aura. Acquiring it will strengthen your presence during teamfights and help keep your lanes clear of enemy creeps.
 * unlocks Death Seeker, a versatile ability that gives Necrophos extra damage and healing while letting him dispatch fleeing enemies.

Late game:
 * doubles the effectiveness of Heartstopper Aura, lowers the cooldown of Ghost Shroud, while giving nice attributes, health, and mana.
 * 's aura will slow the enemy's attack, while its active ability places a slowing debuff on enemies.
 * gives good attributes and mana regeneration. Its disable makes it easier to kill a powerful carry or an annoying support/initiator.

Situational items:
 * is useful for a Necrophos that wants to initiate on enemies or chase down fleeing foes. Also upgrades into in the late game for extra teamfight impact.
 * is a good early-mid game item, and will amplify your spell damage, as well as increasing armor for durability.
 * is also highly viable for Necrophos. It gives health, intelligence, and a long-range root with a short cooldown.
 * is also a nice item choice. It gives increased health, some extra stats, and mana regeneration; the active Soul Release has really good synergy with Necrophos's skillset since it deals damage based on current health and reduces enemy regeneration and healing, paired with death pulse and Hearthstoper Aura, you can bring down a hero to the Reaper's Scythe threshold in a few seconds. The item also can be used to heal yourself or allies.
 * is good if you get focused in fights. It is better if you're ahead on farming and/or levels compared to your opponents as you're otherwise not that tanky.
 * gives much more health regeneration and increases magic resistance, most especially to counter the magic vulnerability while under the effects of Ghost Shroud.
 * is an alternative upgrade for Hood of Defiance if your team already has a Pipe holder or for dealing with heavy magical damage. The spell lifesteal works well with Death Pulse. If purchased with Radiance, you will be healed every second while near enemies.
 * can be purchased to counter enemy dispels. Indeed, once they've dispelled Ghost Shroud, you can then use Ghost Scepter to remain immune to physical damage. It also upgrades into an
 * can be used both defensively and as a disable, while giving good mana regeneration and movement speed. Can later be upgraded into, a very strong defensive item.
 * shortens the cooldowns of Necrophos' abilities, allowing him to spam Death Pulse and Death Seeker to heal/damage more often.
 * if Necrophos finds himself to be a high priority target for the enemy.
 * makes you a lot more tanky. A very important item to obtain if the enemy has highly mobile heroes who deal high damage.

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