Leshrac

Leshrac the Tormented Soul is an intelligence hero who is known for his massively damaging spells. He can easily destroy Creeps and Towers with his abilities, which deal damage at the expense of Mana. His power is balanced by his lack of an escape mechanism, while his only disable, Split Earth, takes time to cast and needs good planning to land successfully.

Without expert positioning and powerful items, Leshrac is an easy target for physical attackers late-game, but he can easily hamper those same enemies by destroying towers and dealing damage in the midgame. If Leshrac is encountered outside the lanes early on, there are very few opponents who can stand against the power of Diabolic Edict and live.

Gameplay
Leshrac's pushing power is notable. Four levels of Diabolic Edict will nearly destroy a tower with one cast of the spell and is the main source of Leshrac's early-mid game power - every time the enemy team is weakened, he can destroy or cripple a tower to win his team map control and gold.

Skill builds for Leshrac vary greatly depending on the situation. Generally, maxing Lightning Storm is smart if the enemy has many short range burst damage skills since Lightning Storm has relatively long range. With proper timing, Leshrac can hit multiple creeps while damaging enemy heroes; it is a great skill for lane control. Diabolic Edict is maxed for pushing, roaming, and/or ganking. Aside from taking towers, it is also a great skill for killing isolated heroes. With solo lane experience, Leshrac can take on and kill almost any enemy hero that tries to fight him one on one early on with Diabolic Edict and even as a support, Leshrac's Edict can deal significant damage to an isolated enemy. Pulse Nova has a high mana cost but is sustainable if Arcane boots are purchased as Leshrac reaches level 6. Pulse Nova is extremely powerful but requires Leshrac to stay in close proximity to deal damage; it is wise to consider maxing Leshrac's other skills first if the enemy has many heroes that can quickly punish Leshrac for positioning himself too closely to them.

Item choices for Leshrac should help toughen him up, as well as expand his Mana Pool to fuel Pulse Nova; Blood Stone and Shiva's Guard both fulfill this role nicely. As with any Intelligence hero, Scythe of Vyse is an excellent item for Leshrac and will allow you to land your spells with impunity. An item to help you escape from danger is also recommended, such as Force Staff, Ghost Scepter, or Eul's Scepter of Divinity. Black King Bar allows Leshrac to wreak havoc on supporting enemy heroes since he is immune to magical burst damage and most stuns/disables when Black King Bar is activated. It is recommended to upgrade his Boots of Speed into Arcane Boots or Boots of Travel if the game is going well in Leshrac's favour.

Tips

 * Diabolic Edict does colossal damage to singular targets; this includes enemy buildings. One-on-one early-mid game, Leshrac is almost impossible to defeat.
 * Leshrac is a wise pick when you have heroes on your team with a direct stun (e.g. Vengeful Spirit), as they help you land your tricky Split Earth.
 * In encounters, Leshrac should be very cautious; despite his gigantic damage output he is very easily focused down. Building tanky items or escape items will help with this.
 * Bloodstone is absolutely crucial on Leshrac; it is the only item in the game that will empower him to use Pulse Nova to full effect.
 * It is important to gain a level and gold advantage early with Leshrac owing to his frailty and dependence on mana items.
 * If you fail to gain a level and gold advantage early-game, Pulse Nova is extremely useful for farming.
 * Leshrac is countered by high-burst-damage heroes such as Lina and Ursa, as while Leshrac's damage output is staggering, he requires time to inflict it.
 * You can increase the overall dps of Pulse Nova by waiting for the second pulse of damage and then reactivating the skill, because it deals damage as soon as it is activated, you can bypass the 1 second wait and do damage again by reactivating the skill, but keep in mind the high mana cost for reactivating and the cooldown the skill has when using that.

Trivia

 * The name Leshrac comes from a Planeswalker from the Magic: the Gathering multiverse.
 * Diabolic Edict is the name of an iconic black card in that game; much like the Dota 2 spell, the Magic card was more effective when there were fewer targets, as your opponent got to choose which target got hit.