Shadow Fiend Guide

Items

Starting Items:

• Tango   Item   Tango (Shared)   Changelogs     TangoB Forage to survive on the battlefield. Cost125 Bought FromConsumables Active Eat a Tree or Ward Charges 4 Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Tango provide the necessary health regeneration to help you staying in lane.
• Healing Salve   Item   Changelogs     Healing SalveB A magical salve that can quickly mend even the deepest of wounds. Cost110 Bought FromConsumables Active Regenerate Health Charges 1 Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The can save Shadow Fiend when activated at the last moment.
• Slippers of Agility   Item   Changelogs     Slippers of AgilityB Light boots made from spider skin that tingles your senses. Cost150 Bought FromAttributes Bonus +3 Agility Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The 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   Item   Changelogs     ClarityB Clear water that enhances the ability to meditate. Cost50 Bought FromConsumables Active Regenerate Mana Charges 1 Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Clarity is an item purchasable lets Shadow Fiend use Shadowraze more often in lane, helping him build up his Necromastery.

Early Game:

• Magic Stick   Item   Changelogs     Magic StickBL A simple wand used to channel magic energies, it is favored by apprentice wizards and great warlocks alike. Cost200 Bought FromArcane Active Energy Charge Charges 0 Disassemble? will help supplement mana for casting Shadowraze.
• Bottle   Item   Changelogs     BottleBL An old bottle that survived the ages, the contents placed inside become enchanted. Cost650 Bought FromConsumables Active Regenerate Charges 3 / 1 Passive Store Rune Disassemble? No Alert is crucial for surviving in lane, and capturing runes For the runes that come with cosmetic items, see Inscribed Gem.   Main   Changelogs     Runes are special boosters that spawn on the game map. They come in two categories. Bounty Runes can .
• Ring of Aquila   Item   Changelogs     Ring of AquilaB The ring of the fallen Warlord Aquila continues to support armies in battle. Cost985 Bought FromSupport Passive Aquila Aura Bonus +3 Strength+9 Agility+3 Intelligence+10 Attack damage will give you decent early stats, but more importantly, the mana regen means you can cast Shadowraze more often.
• Infused Raindrop   Item   Changelogs     Infused RaindropB Elemental protection from magical assaults. Cost225 Bought FromArmaments Charges 5 Passive Magical Damage Block Bonus +0.85 Mana regeneration Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe Contents 1 Additional 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.

Core Items:

• Magic Wand will save inventory space and provide a small attribute bonus.
• Power Treads increase your damage per second and can also be used for extra survivability.
• Black King Bar   Item   Changelogs     Black King BarB A powerful staff imbued with the strength of giants. Cost3975 (1375) Bought FromArmor Active Avatar Bonus +10 Strength+24 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe provides good @@@#@@@HP(hp.com)###@### and damage, but more importantly, can be used to ensure Requiem of Souls is not interrupted.
• Shadow Blade For the cosmetic item equipped by Kunkka, see Kunkka s Shadow Blade.   Item   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Shadow BladeB The blade of a fallen king, it allows you to move unseen and 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.

Situational Items:

• Dragon Lance gives additional attack range and stats and stacks with level 25 talent.
• 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 during late game teamfights.
• Desolator, in combination with a maximized Presence of the Dark Lord, reduces an attacked enemy`s armor by 13, increasing the physical damage it takes even further.
• Silver Edge is a natural upgrade from Shadow Blade For the cosmetic item equipped by Kunkka, see Kunkka s Shadow Blade.   Item   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Shadow BladeB The blade of a fallen king, it allows you to move unseen and , and provides a decent break mechanism.
• Butterfly increases your DPS and makes you much more survivable against enemy carries who are reliant on their physical attacks.
• Diffusal Blade improves Shadow Fiend`s physical attacks, providing a boost to agility as well as allowing his attacks to burn mana. The active can purge enemies. It is very good mid-game-oriented choice.
• Monkey King Bar increases your damage, counters enemies with evasion, and gives your physical attacks the chance to mini-bash.
• 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.
• 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.

Gameplay

Playstyle
Shadow Fiend   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Shadow Fiend 15 + 2.3 20 + 2.9 18 + 2 Level is a ranged carry who collects the soul of every unit he kills, growing stronger with each soul claimed. Because of this, he benefits from a high attack damage potential, but also suffer punishing setbacks if he dies. The Shadow Fiend can also unleash all the souls he has gathered, devastating enemies over a wide area with Requiem of Souls. While highly effective as an offensive hero, Shadow Fiend has no defensive abilities and needs help from teammates to position his abilities.
Pros	Cons
Gains damage from kills. Fast farmer. Good balance of early game magic damage and late game physical damage.	Loses damage upon dying. No escape mechanism. Requires good positioning.

Videos

Info

Hero

Strategy

Counters Play “Many hands make light work.” This article is badly written or needs more information. Please help the community by updating it. Read this formatting guide first.   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment

Equipment   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     v • d • e Shadow Fiend Equipment (collapse sets)Sets Diabolical Fiend Eternal HarvestHead Demon Eater Horns of

Gear   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     This is a list of cosmetic items that reflects Shadow Fiend s design

Responses   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     v • d • e  Voice responses Hero responses Abaddon Alchemist Ancient Apparition Anti-Mage Arc Warden Axe Bane

Sounds   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     v • d • e  Dota 2 Sounds Hero Sounds Abaddon Alchemist Ancient Apparition Anti-Mage Arc Warden Axe

Lore   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Nevermore, the Shadow Fiend It is said that Nevermore the Shadow Fiend

Old Abilities   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Dark Flames RD AbilityToggle AffectsEnemies DamageMagical Creates a group of six orbiting

Changelogs   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Contents 1 Version history 2 Patch history Version history edit] Version Description

Ability Builds

Talents

Hero Talents   Main   Table of Gained Bonuses     The Talent Selection interface. Talents are traits unique to each hero. They are chosen every 5th level starting at level 10, offering a permanent choice between
+150 Shadowraze Damage	25	+150 Attack Range
+2 Damage per Necromastery Soul	20	15% Lifesteal
+175 Health	15	+6% Spell Amplification
+20 Attack Speed	10	+15 Movement Speed

Notes:

• Upgrading health increases maximum health capacity and keeps the current health percentage.

• The lifesteal is not a unique attack modifier Unique Attack Modifiers (abbreviated UAM; formerly known as Orb Effects) are special attack modifiers that cannot be used simultaneously with each other—one always takes priority. They may be provided by abilities (e.g. Anti-Mage s Mana Break), and fully stacks with other sources of lifesteal.

General

• Shadow Fiend is nearly always played in the mid lane.
• Unlike other carries, Shadow Fiend`s heavy damage depends on his Necromastery count. This means that dying will make him significantly weaker, especially in the late game.
• Shadow Fiend has no movement or escape abilities, making him easily gankable. Make sure there are wards to spot any potential gankers moving to the mid lane.
• Survivability is essential for Shadow Fiend early in the game.
  • A Shadow Fiend with few souls will have a hard time regaining footing in the mid game.
  • Play conservatively and take few risks until he has a decent health pool and soul count.
• More tips needed.

Shadowraze

• Shadowraze`s low mana cost means it can be used during the laning phase to score last hits and harass the enemy.
• Shadowraze`s nuke damage is considerable during the early game, and allows Shadow Fiend to gank.
• Use Shadowraze early if you`re having trouble building souls. A level 1 Shadowraze deals 100 damage, which is much higher than the 35-41 base attack damage you start with.
• Multiple Shadowrazes allows Shadow Fiend to clear creep waves very quickly.
• Use Shadowraze in early game fights, when it deals more damage than your autoattacks.
  • During the late game, Shadow Fiend`s autoattacks should deal higher DPS than using Shadowraze.
• To land all three Shadowrazes on distant but stationary targets, move forward a little after each Shadowraze. This is particularly effective when engaging targets who are already disabled, or fighting a teammate.
• Use Shadowraze to chase melee heroes when they are running in a straight line. Remember it also has a small area of effect.
• Use Shadowraze to finish off enemies juking in the trees.
• Shadowraze does hit invisible Invisibility is a status effect which makes units and heroes not appear on their opponent s screen or minimap, and makes them unable to be targeted directly by the enemy. Invisibility makes the unit s model appear enemies, giving Shadow Fiend three chances to kill off a dying target.
  • Use it immediately after the enemy goes invisible for increased accuracy.
• More tips needed.

Necromastery

• Necromastery is usually leveled first to help Shadow Fiend start accumulating souls early, which lets him last hit more easily.
• Necromastery receives souls from all kills, including denies “ Play Denied! Click to listen— Juggernaut ” Denying is the act of preventing enemy heroes from getting the last hit on a friendly unit by last hitting the unit oneself. Enemies earn reduced experience if the . This, be that as it may, doesn`t mean you should prioritize denies over last hits.
• Jungle creeps are a safe and easy way to farm up souls with Shadowraze. This is a good way to regain souls during a tough mid lane or after a death.
• A good way to deal with his low starting damage is to last hit Clockwerk`s Power Cogs, provided he was on your team.
• More tips needed.

Presence of the Dark Lord

• Combined with Necromastery, Presence of the Dark Lord lets Shadow Fiend deal heavy damage with regular autoattacks.
• Stay near enemies to keep them under the effect of the armor debuff.
• Since armor reduction is negligible during the early game, Presence of the Dark Lord is best leveled during the late game, as Shadow Fiend has a very low basic attack damage without items or points in Necromastery.
• More tips needed.

Requiem of Souls

• Requiem of Souls is one of the most powerful abilities in the game, dealing up to 2160 damage after the standard 25% magic resistance deduction.
  • At very close range, Requiem of Souls will kill almost any hero.
• Requiem of Souls has a brief charge time, meaning that positioning is extremely important to its proper use.
  • Use the invisibility from Shadow Blade For the cosmetic item equipped by Kunkka, see Kunkka s Shadow Blade.   Item   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Shadow BladeB The blade of a fallen king, it allows you to move unseen and to sneak up next to an opponent before using Requiem of Souls.
  • Wait for teammates to stun Stun is a status effect that prevents active actions like moving, turning, using spells or items, but does not prevent passive abilities, such as evasion and Damage Block. Stuns also interrupt spell casts, channeling spells , root Root (formerly known as Ensnare and Entangle) is a status effect that prevents affected units from moving, and from casting some mobility spells. Contents 1 Mechanics 2 Rooting abilities 3 Self-rooting abilities 4 Disabled by , or slow A Slow is a type of status effect that reduces the afflicted units Movement Speed by a percentage, and/or Attack Speed by a flat value of their current speeds. Contents 1 Mechanics 1.1 Slowing movement enemies before using Requiem of Souls.
  • Begin charging Requiem of Souls next to a target that is cycloned Cyclone is a status effect that causes afflicted units to be lifted up, completely disabling them, but also rendering them invulnerable to all sources of damage, similar to being hidden. Cyclone dispels the target, removing or hidden Hiding (also referred to as banishing) a unit causes it to temporarily disappear. It renders the unit unable to move, attack, cast spells and use items. All hiding spells also turn the affected unit invulnerable. by abilities like Astral Imprisonment, unleashing the full damage on them when the disable ends.
  • Requiem of Souls can be stopped during its channel time with the Stop command (S by default). Use this to cancel a poorly positioned cast, or to bluff and intimidate nearby enemies.
• Requiem of Souls is often skipped at level six, as it does little damage without the extra souls gained from higher levels of Necromastery, and can be hard to land without additional items like Shadow Blade For the cosmetic item equipped by Kunkka, see Kunkka s Shadow Blade.   Item   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Shadow BladeB The blade of a fallen king, it allows you to move unseen and or Black King Bar   Item   Changelogs     Black King BarB A powerful staff imbued with the strength of giants. Cost3975 (1375) Bought FromArmor Active Avatar Bonus +10 Strength+24 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe .
• When retreating, use Requiem of Souls as a defensive cover for your allies and a deterrent against pursuing enemies.
• Teamwork is very helpful when trying to land a good Requiem of Souls.
  • Let an ally such as Earthshaker   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Earthshaker 22 + 3.2 12 + 1.4 16 + initiate teamfights before jumping in with Requiem of Souls.
• Requiem of Souls doesn`t need to be cast in the middle of the enemy team to deal damage, as it can be hard to cast because you might be focused in the middle of a teamfight. So try to use it where it can hit the enemies as the slow A Slow is a type of status effect that reduces the afflicted units Movement Speed by a percentage, and/or Attack Speed by a flat value of their current speeds. Contents 1 Mechanics 1.1 Slowing movement and damage reduction There are several ways to affect the final value of a damage instance. Damage can be manipulated on both ends, from the dealing unit (outgoing damage) and the receiving unit (incoming damage). Armor and magic debuff is powerful enough to win you the teamfight.
• More tips needed.