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

 * Illuminate clears fog of war while channeling and as such should be used liberally when in dangerous territory to prevent a sneak attack by the enemy. Remember that charging it to fulmination increases its sight range; charging it and releasing it immediately will not be good for gaining sight.
 * Illuminate's notorious creep-killing power makes Ezalor a remarkably good farmer considering his supportive role. As such, he will always have money for wards, and should ward extensively; as vision of the enemy allows for powerful Illuminate strikes.
 * Although Illuminate is extremely powerful for early-game pushing and harassment, it will disrupt the farm of your laning partner; so if used it should be positioned only to damage the enemy heroes. Owing to his ability to replenish his mana, Illuminate can be used constantly; but mana replenishment is generally better used on his laning partner.
 * Using Mana Leak and then Illuminate on a foe will force them either to take damage or lose mana; depending on whether or not they choose to move.
 * Remember that you are a support. While maxing Illuminate seems a good choice for the damage and the pushing potential, it will also make you an easy prey to ganks. Unless you wish to push hard really early, consider maxing Chakra Magic first, which is very useful in the early stages of the game. If you are soloing a lane, a viable option for Ezalor; Illuminate can be maxed first and used to scare the enemy heroes into losing their lane.
 * Keeper of the Light is a very effective lane support for Heroes who are very mana dependent; Chaos Knight, Morphling, Juggernaut, Wraith King, Magnus, Tiny, Zeus, Leshrac, Ancient Apparition and many other Heroes will have their lane sustainability greatly augmented by your presence.
 * 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 could also use 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 stop chasing and allowing you to escape.

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.
 * One of Mana Leak's cast responses ("You shall not cast!") is a pun on one of Gandalf's most famous quote "You shall not pass!".
 * Also, when Visage kills Ezalor, the former responds with, "You shall not pass!". It is a direct reference to the famous quote.
 * One of his spawn lines, "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 "Kundalini!" and "The serpent of illumination stirs!" come, as well as the term "Chakra", from Hinduism. Kundalini is described as a dormant inner strength, or "sleeping serpent waiting to be awakened".
 * Will O and Phase shift (former abilities from Keeper of the Light)have been transferred to Natures Prophet and Puck respectively.
 * Enigma, Io, Keeper of the Light and Chaos Knight 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 rival responses "And chaos fled!" might be refer to a official bug when fighting The Final Fantasy Final Boss Chaos, as you can end the fight with your victory without damaging him (he simply just fled).