Necrophos/Guide

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 survived 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.

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.
 * Ghost Shroud also amplifies any mana received. Use it when is about to be used.
 * Use Ghost Shroud with shrines or at the fountain.
 * 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.
 * Ghost Shroud works well with 's Spell Lifesteal to heal Necrophos more.


 * Early point in Heartstopper Aura will help the laning stage.
 * Investing another point on it may not be worth it as it deals damage based on health Percentage.
 * Make sure enemy heroes are within the Heartstopper Aura radius.
 * Low HP creep will likely die to Heartstopper Aura if Necrophos miss 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 HP. If your enemy's line-up has many naturally high health targets (e.g. Strength heroes), you can level it up earlier on.
 * The damage of Heartstopper Aura pierces spell immunity, while that of 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. Thus, replenishing his mana and health.
 * Reaper's Scythe's stun goes through spell immunity, whereas the damage will not.
 * Sometimes you want to save Reaper's Scythe to stop channeling abilities, such as or  or to stop an enemy from using.
 * 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.
 * Prioritize Reaper's Scythe on enemy key heroes.
 * Reaper's Scythe adds additional time to its victim's respawn timer. 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 extension of the respawn time will add up and will cause a significant reduction in the enemy's farm. This will cause heroes who depend on snowballing early like or  to become almost useless in mid to late game as their chance to snowball will be greatly reduced.
 * 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 or  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.

Mid game:
 * 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.
 * will solve his mobility problem, allowing him to chase and initiate.

Late game:
 * reduces the cooldown of Reaper's Scythe dramatically, 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 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 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.
 * 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
 * is a decent choice on most intelligence heroes. It is usually bought when Force Staff is a bad option, for example against or, or even to run away from 's.
 * lowers the cooldown of Necrophos' abilities, allowing him to spam Reaper's Scythe and Death Pulse. If purchased with Radiance, you will heal every second.
 * 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.
 * would be the better choice for supporting your team. Consider building instead of Power Treads if you are planning to build this.

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