Hero
Shadow Fiend
    19 + 2.7
20 + 3.5
18 + 2.2
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Nevermore, the Shadow Fiend, is a ranged agility hero possessing abilities that inflict superb burst damage from varying distances. Whether near or far, Shadow Fiend is able to release incredible offensive power, both physical and magical. Shadow Fiend's true power comes from the souls he takes, making him more dangerous every time he kills. With enough souls, he can release all of the captured souls in a devastating burst, dealing more damage to enemies that are closer to him. Shadow Fiend is a carry who is powerful at all stages of the game, a trait most carries don't share. He can harass and conquer the early game, gank unsuspecting heroes during the mid-stages of the game, and has huge right-click potential in the late game thanks to his passives, although his active abilities scale off by the end-game.
Contents
Bio[]
Nevermore, the Shadow Fiend▶️ "So, you're curious where I come from? There's one easy way to find out for yourself."
Lore:
It is said that Nevermore the Shadow Fiend has the soul of a poet, and in fact he has thousands of them. Over the ages he has claimed the souls of poets, priests, emperors, beggars, slaves, philosophers, criminals and (naturally) heroes; no sort of soul escapes him. What he does with them is unknown. No one has ever peered into the Abysm whence Nevermore reaches out like an eel from among astral rocks. Does he devour them one after another? Does he mount them along the halls of an eldritch temple, or pickle the souls in necromantic brine? Is he merely a puppet, pushed through the dimensional rift by a demonic puppeteer? Such is his evil, so intense his aura of darkness, that no rational mind may penetrate it. Of course, if you really want to know where the stolen souls go, there's one sure way to find out: Add your soul to his collection. Or just wait for Nevermore.
Voice:
Abilities[]
Shadowraze (Near)
Cast Animation: 0.55+0
Distance: 200
Radius: 250
Base Damage: 90/160/230/300 (
190/260/330/400)
190/260/330/400)Damage Increase per Stack: 50/60/70/80
Stack Duration: 8
10
75/
Debuff persists if placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
modifier_nevermore_shadowraze_debuff: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_nevermore_shadowraze_counter: Dispellable with any dispel.
Ability Draft Notes:
This ability is not available in Ability Draft.
Nevermore's trademark for harvesting souls.
Notes:
- Leveling one of the Shadowraze abilities levels the others as well.
- Shadowraze (Near) blasts a 250 radius area 200 range in front of Nevermore upon cast.
- This means that it can hit units up to 50 range behind Shadow Fiend, and up to 450 range in front of him.
- Places one hidden debuff on the enemy. This debuff counts how many Shadowrazes hit the target within its duration.
- Shadowraze first sets its damage based on current stacks, then applies the debuff or increases the stack count, and then deals the damage.
- This means the stack added by the raze does not affect the ability's damage.
- A number on the icon shows how many times the debuff was refreshed, including the first cast.
- The debuff has no stack limit and can be increased infinitely.
- Hitting all 3 razes consecutively can deal up to 420/660/900/1140 ( 720/960/1200/1440) damage to a single unit (before reductions).
- The hidden debuff is placed on heroes is used to count successive Shadowraze hits. It lasts for 3 seconds.
- Although only the Demon Eater cosmetic item makes use of it, the counter is always placed.
Shadowraze (Medium)
Cast Animation: 0.55+0
Distance: 450
Radius: 250
Base Damage: 90/160/230/300 ( 190/260/330/400)
190/260/330/400)Damage Increase per Stack: 50/60/70/80
Stack Duration: 8
10 75/ Debuff persists if placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
modifier_nevermore_shadowraze_debuff: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_nevermore_shadowraze_counter: Dispellable with any dispel.Ability Draft Notes:
Shadowraze (Medium) is a stand-alone ability that comes with 3 charges.
Nevermore's trademark for harvesting souls.
Notes:
- Leveling one of the Shadowraze abilities levels the others as well.
- Shadowraze (Medium) blasts a 250 radius area 450 range in front of Nevermore upon cast.
- This means that it can hit units from 200 to 700 range in front of Shadow Fiend.
- Other notes from Shadowraze (Near) fully apply.
Shadowraze (Far)
Cast Animation: 0.55+0
Distance: 700
Radius: 250
Base Damage: 90/160/230/300 ( 190/260/330/400)
190/260/330/400)Damage Increase per Stack: 50/60/70/80
Stack Duration: 8
10 75/ Debuff persists if placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
modifier_nevermore_shadowraze_debuff: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_nevermore_shadowraze_counter: Dispellable with any dispel.Ability Draft Notes:
This ability is not available in Ability Draft.
Nevermore's trademark for harvesting souls.
Notes:
- Leveling one of the Shadowraze abilities levels the others as well.
- Shadowraze (Far) blasts a 250 radius area 700 range in front of Nevermore upon cast.
- This means that it can hit units from 450 to 950 range in front of Shadow Fiend.
- Other notes from Shadowraze (Near) fully apply.
Necromastery DN
DN
Affects
Self
( Enemies)
Self
(
Enemies)Shadow Fiend steals the soul from units he kills, gaining bonus damage. On death, he releases half of them from bondage.
Max Souls: 11/14/17/20 ( 25)
25)Soul Gain Kill: 1 ( 2)
2)Attack Damage Bonus per Soul: 1/2/3/4 ( 4/5/6/7)
4/5/6/7)Souls Lost on Death: 40%
Cast Range: 500 Souls Consumed per Cast: 1 Critical Damage: 190% 3 0
Increases Necromastery Max Souls.
Shadow Fiend gains 2 souls per kill. Additionally Shadow Fiend can consume 1 soul per attack to deal a 190% damage crit. CD: 3s Prevents gaining new stacks. Already existing stacks still provide their bonuses.The active continues working normally.
Illusions start with 0 souls. Illusions can gather souls for themselves, but cannot make use of the raw bonus damage.Modifiers
modifier_nevermore_necromastery: Undispellable. Persists death.Harvested souls swirl in and out of the Abysm, empowering the Shadow Fiend to increase the size of his collection.
Notes:
- Can get souls from every unit, including wards and allies, excluding allied Observer and Sentry Wards, illusions, the Tempest Double and buildings.
- The number of current souls is visible on the status buff icon.
- If Shadow Fiend has an odd number of souls upon death, the number of lost souls is rounded down.
- This means that he never can lose all his souls. He still keeps 1 soul, even when dying while only having 1 soul.
- No souls are lost with Reincarnation.
- Despite the visual effects, Shadow Fiend instantly gains the soul and thus the damage of killed units.
- The more souls Shadow Fiend has, the more red particles fly around his chest area.
- Can grant a total of 11/28/51/80 ( 44/70/102/140) bonus attack damage with maximum amount of souls.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Necromastery grants a total of 25/50/75/100 ( 100/125/150/175) attack damage with maximum amount of souls.
- These extra souls affect the number of lines created by Requiem of Souls.
- When losing Aghanim's Scepter, Shadow Fiend keeps his souls even when having more than the default allowed amount.
- Requiem of Souls still releases more lines even when not having Aghanim's Scepter in this case.
- However, the attack damage bonus adapts immediately and does not account for the extra souls when losing Aghanim's Scepter.
- With Aghanim's Shard, Necromastery turns into an active attack modifier. The passive components are still present.
- The cast range is based on the attack range of the caster.
- The cast range can be further increased by other attack range bonuses. However, it is not affected by cast range bonuses.
- Both Autocast and manually casting it uses Shadow Fiend's current attack range.
- Consumes a soul and goes on cooldown upon projectile launch, so missing the attack wastes the soul and cooldown.
- Casting Necromastery ensures a critical strike, crits with a lower value have no effect if they proc, since the higher crit value takes priority.
Presence of the Dark Lord FP
FP
Ability
Aura
Aura
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Shadow Fiend's presence reduces the armor of nearby enemies.
Radius: 1200
Armor Reduction: 4/5/6/7 ( 8/9/10/11)
8/9/10/11)Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
Modifiers
modifier_nevermore_presence_aura: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_nevermore_presence: Dispellable with death only.Even being near Nevermore eats away at one's soul.
Shadow Fiend gathers his captured souls to release them as lines of demonic energy. Units near Shadow Fiend when the souls are released can be damaged by several lines of energy. Any unit damaged by Requiem of Souls will be feared and have its movement speed reduced for 0.8 seconds for each line hit up to a maximum of 2.4. Lines of energy are created for every soul captured through Necromastery.
Requiem of Souls is automatically cast whenever Shadow Fiend dies, regardless of its cooldown.
Requiem of Souls is automatically cast whenever Shadow Fiend dies, regardless of its cooldown.
Cast Animation: 1.67+0.77
Damage Lines Travel Distance: 1000
Damage Lines Starting Width: 125
Damage Lines End Width: 350
Necromastery Souls Required per Line: 1
Damage per Line on Release: 80/120/160
Move Speed Slow: 20%/25%/30%
Debuff Duration per Line: 0.8 ( 1.2)
1.2)Max Debuff Duration: 2.4 ( 3.6)
3.6) Damage per Line on Return: 32/48/64 Heal per Hit Hero on Return: 32/48/64 120/ 70/60/50) 150/ Increases Necromastery Max Souls and causes Requiem of Souls to return back to Shadow Fiend. The wave back to Shadow Fiend deals less damage, but heals Shadow Fiend for all the damage it dealt.
The passive cast upon death is not disabled by Break.Modifiers
modifier_nevermore_requiem_invis_break: Dispellable with death only. modifier_nevermore_requiem_thinker: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_nevermore_requiem_fear: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_nevermore_requiem_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.Ability Draft Notes:
Necromastery must be drafted as well for Requiem of Souls to work.
The captured souls of those past slain are released to ravage their former allies.
Notes:
- Shadow Fiend becomes phased while casting this ability.
- The damage is entirely based on the amount of souls gathered with Necromastery.
- The damaging lines have the following mechanics:
- The area of every single damaging line is shaped like a cone.
- The distance between the damaging lines is always even. One line is always released towards the east and the others adapt accordingly.
- Creates a line on every 32.7°th/25.7°th/21.2°th/18°th ( 14.4°th) with the maximum number of souls on each level of Necromastery.
- The damaging lines travel at a speed of 700, taking 1.43 seconds to reach the max distance.
- With the travel distance and end width, the damaging lines can hit units up to 1350 range away.
- Each damaging line cannot hit the same unit more than once per cast upon expanding and returning respectively.
- Fears and reduces the movement speed of all enemy units hit by the damaging lines of Requiem of Souls.
- The duration increases by 0.8 ( 1.2) per each line hit, but is capped at 2.4 ( 3.6) seconds.
- Requiem of Souls' fear makes affected enemies run away from the caster, rather than make them run towards their team's fountain.
- The duration increases by 0.8 (
- The expanding lines can deal up to 1600/2400/3200 damage to a single unit (before reductions), if all lines hit.
- The lines first apply the damage, then the debuff.
- Upon death, Requiem of Souls is passively cast automatically and instantly, regardless of mana and cooldown.
- Shadow Fiend first loses 40% of his Necromastery souls before this happens, so this passive cast can only have a maximum of 6/8/10/12 ( 15) lines.
- Requiem of Souls cast this way does not apply fear, but does apply the movement speed slow.
- It also does not trigger with Reincarnation sources.
- Shadow Fiend first loses 40% of his Necromastery souls before this happens, so this passive cast can only have a maximum of 6/8/10/12 (
- With Aghanim's Scepter, after the lines expand to their maximum distance, they return back to Shadow Fiend.
- Despite the visual effects, the lines do not "respawn" around Shadow Fiend. They start returning back exactly where they stopped.
- The lines return at the same speed to Shadow Fiend's current location, not to the location Requiem of Souls was originally cast from.
- The lines do not follow if Shadow Fiend moves. Once the lines start returning, their path cannot be further altered.
- The maximum travel distance also applies to the lines also upon returning, meaning they travel a total distance of 2000, taking 2.86 seconds.
- The width of the lines is reversed upon returning—starting with the maximum width and getting thinner towards the end.
- The returning lines deal 40% damage. They hit all units regularly like the expanding lines and also apply the movement speed slow and fear debuff.
- Aghanim's Scepter only affects manual casts. The on-death Requiem if Souls cast is not upgraded.
- The returning lines can deal up to 800/1200/1600 damage to a single unit, if all lines hit.
- Together with the expanding lines, it can deal up to 2800/4200/5600 damage to a single unit (before reductions).
- The heal is based on the damage dealt by the returning lines, not by the initial expanding lines.
- The heal is applied as soon as the lines stop moving.
- Always heals for 32/48/64 health per hero hit, regardless of how much damage the lines actually dealt.
- Only heals from damage dealt to heroes, including illusions.
Talents[]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| -50s Requiem of Souls Cooldown | 25 | -4 Presence Aura Armor |
| +0.4s Requiem Fear per line. | 20 | +3 Damage Per Soul |
| +100 Shadowraze Damage | 15 | Presence Aura Affects Building |
| +25 Attack Speed | 10 | +8% Spell Amplification |
Recent Changes[]
Main Article: Shadow Fiend/Changelogs
Version
Description
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Increased Necromastery critical damage from 170% to 190%.
- Talents:
- Level 15 left talent:+80 Shadowraze base damage increased to +100.
- Level 20 left talent: +0.3s/+0.9s Requiem of Souls debuff duration per line/max debuff duration increased to +0.4s/+1.2s.
- Level 25 left talent: -40s Requiem of Souls cooldown increased to -50s.
- Rescaled Requiem of Souls movement speed slow from 25% on each level to 20%/25%/30%.
- Reworked Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Old: Causes Presence of the Dark Lord to reduce enemy magic resistance by 14%.
- New: Increases Necromastery soul gain per kill by 1 and adds an active component to Necromastery.
- Can be cast on an enemy to attack them with a critical strike, consuming a soul in the process.
- Critical damage: 170%
- Cooldown: 3
- Notes: Active attack modifier, uses the attack range as cast range. Pierces spell immunity. Cannot be cast when having no souls left.
- Can be cast on an enemy to attack them with a critical strike, consuming a soul in the process.
- Talents:
- Level 10 left talent: +20 attack speed increased to +25.
- Level 10 right talent: +6% spell damage amplification increased to +8%.
- Level 15 left talent changed: +25 movement speed ➜ +80 Shadowraze base damage.
- Level 20 left talent changed: +120 Shadowraze base damage ➜ +0.3s/+0.9s Requiem of Souls debuff duration per line/max debuff duration.
- Level 25 left talent changed: 30% cooldown reduction ➜ -40s Requiem of Souls cooldown.
- Reduced base attack time from 1.7 to 1.6.
- Reduced turn rate from 1 to 0.9.
- Increased armor from 0 to 1.
- Reduced Necromastery souls lost on death from 50% to 40%.
- Reworked Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Old: Causes Necromastery to grant 0.75% spell damage amplification per soul.
- New: Causes Presence of the Dark Lord to reduce enemy magic resistance by 14%.
Recommended Items[]
Starting items:
- Tango provide the necessary health regeneration to help you staying in lane.
- Healing Salve can save Shadow Fiend when activated at the last moment.
- Slippers of Agility compensate for your low starting damage by allowing you to last hit easier in the laning phase. The more last hits you get, the stronger you become, so this is important.
- Clarity lets Shadow Fiend use Shadowraze more often in lane, helping him build up his Necromastery.
Early game:
- Magic Stick will help supplement mana for casting Shadowraze.
- Bottle is crucial for surviving in lane, and capturing runes.
- Infused Raindrops will provide you with the mana regen to sustain Shadowrazes throughout the jungle, as well as provide a little bit of tankiness with the magic damage absorption.
Mid game:
- Magic Wand will save inventory space and provide a small attribute bonus.
- Power Treads increase your damage output with attack speed and agility, as well as survivability and sustainability when switched to strength or intelligence.
- Shadow Blade provides Shadow Fiend with an escape mechanism, and helps him position for Requiem of Souls. The invisibility fade time means you won't be visible until you're close to actually casting Requiem of Souls. Using this item and getting directly on top of an enemy and unleashing your ultimate will usually lead to a one-hit kill.
- Dragon Lance gives additional attack range and attributes.
Late game:
- Black King Bar provides good health and damage, but more importantly, can be used to ensure Requiem of Souls is not interrupted.
- Hurricane Pike is a natural upgrade from Dragon Lance that can push enemies away while providing infinite range for up to 4 attacks.
- Butterfly increases your DPS and makes you much more survivable against enemy carries who are reliant on their physical attacks.
Situational items:
- Blink Dagger gives Shadow Fiend some much needed mobility, and can be used to jump into fights with Requiem of Souls.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can be used to cyclone an enemy, giving Shadow Fiend the time to charge Requiem of Souls and hit the enemy upon landing. It is also a great counter to heroes that rely on Blink Dagger to get away since enemy heroes will take 50 damage upon landing.
- Eye of Skadi grants a massive attribute bonus. In addition, its attack modifier's slow pierces spell immunity, ensuring enemies cannot kite you too easily.
- Assault Cuirass increases your team's DPS and survivability while reducing the other team's DPS and survivability. The armor reduction aura also stacks with Presence of the Dark Lord.
- Daedalus increases damage output and scales well into the late game.
- Satanic allows Shadow Fiend to quickly regain health by lifestealing during late game teamfights.
- Desolator, in combination with a maximized Presence of the Dark Lord, reduces an attacked enemy's armor by 14, increasing the physical damage it takes even further.
- Silver Edge is a natural upgrade from Shadow Blade, and provides break to disable passive abilities.
- Diffusal Blade improves Shadow Fiend's physical attacks, providing a boost to agility as well as allowing his attacks to burn mana. The active grants Shadow Fiend a light disable, something his own skills are lacking.
- Monkey King Bar increases attack damage, and counters enemies with evasion with magical damage procs.
- Boots of Travel is commonly picked up during the late game to push lanes and move around the map more efficiently.
- Aghanim's Scepter greatly increases the damage from Requiem of Souls, and raises Necromastery's maximum soul count.
- Manta Style is good for disjointing and confusing enemies, giving Shadow Fiend a little extra time to deal damage. It is also excellent for attacking towers and buildings.
- Scythe of Vyse is a good combination with Blink Dagger, granting a good disable, allowing Shadow Fiend to find kills more easily without Requiem of Souls, by easily getting off triple Shadowraze hits.
- Ethereal Blade is a good situational item, if you are going magical build, providing a big nuke due to Shadow Fiend's high agility, and giving a 40% increased magical damage, and a slow, which eases hits on Shadowrazes.
Gameplay[]
| Roles: | Carry Nuker |
|---|---|
| Complexity: | ★★☆ |
| Playstyle: | Some heroes collect trophies, others collect hats. The one known as Nevermore prefers souls. Maintaining perfect Necromastery over his collection, the Shadow Fiend grows in power with every soul claimed. Armor fails in the Presence of the Dark Lord, leaving foes no choice but to scramble before he Shadowrazes them to oblivion. It is a poor idea to surround Nevermore. The Shadow Fiend pauses to charge his demonic energies, then, with a flourish of his lightless wings, releases his collection in all directions to obliterate enemies in a howling Requiem of Souls. |
Audio[]
History[]
Equipment[]
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Trivia[]
- Shadow Fiend's alternate/fun name in DotA was "YaphetS", a tribute to a professional DotA player who skillfully used Nevermore.
- The name "Nevermore" likely refers to the poem The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. This is also referenced in his bio.
- The voice response ▶️ "Never say Nevermore..." is in reference to the James Bond movie "Never say never again".
- Apart for popular demand by fans, Shadow Fiend's model rework may have also been done to adhere to certain countries' censorship laws, namely the Chinese client.
Gallery[]
Shadow Fiend cartoon art
New model
Old model (before September 25, 2014 Patch)
Old Low Violence model
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
