Necrophos
Necrophos, the Grim Reaper of Dota 2 utilizes immense healing and sustain to eventually wither his opponents down. He has one of the strongest laning presence, ample magic damage, and can be a good pick against physical damage dealers. To top things off, Necrophos can use his signature ability, his Reaper’s Scythe, to do incredible amounts of damage to an enemy hero, usually sealing their fate.
In this guide, we will see how professionals build and dominate with Necrophos, and show you how you can do the same in your local pub match making.
5. Ceb’s Offlane Necrophos Build
Ceb’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1- Q - Death Pulse
Level 2 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 3 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 4 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 5 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 6 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 7- Q - Death Pulse
Level 8 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 9 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 10 - Right Talent
Level 11 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 12 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 13 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 14 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 18 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Ceb’s Item Build:
First Buy: Tangoes, Magic Stick, 3 Branches, Faerie Fire
Ceb is up against a Specter and Undying. Due to the enemy’s highly spammable spells, and how Necrophos is one of the best users of the Magic stick, he builds the item immediately. He also gets three branches for some nice stats as well as a Faerie fire for stronger last hitting power and an extra form of burst heal that synergizes well with his Ghost Shroud.
3 Minutes: Magic Wand, Boots of Speed
Magic Wand is usually a great item to rush out on Necrophos as the stick charges synergize incredibly well with his Ghost Shroud ability as well as giving him some nice stats to tank up and increase his last hitting power. The boots help him escape as well as close the gap with the enemy, making it easier for him to hit instances of his Death Pulse.
4 Minutes: Wraith Band
Wraith Band is an interesting pick here, as Ceb is noticeably going for more harassment through his auto attacking abilities in the early game. Normally, in your pub games, a Null Talisman or a Bracer would be the better choice, but in this case, Ceb wanted to push his advantage an inch further as well as increase his attack speed to deal with the enemy Undying’s Tombstone.
6 Minutes: Infused Raindrops, Wind Lace
Infused Raindrops is an underrated item, especially on Necrophos. Necrophos is naturally weak against Magic Damage due to his Ghost Shroud ability, making Infused Raindrops a great early item to obtain to not only compliment his mana regeneration, but also increase his tankiness.
8 Minutes: Hood of Defiance
Necrophos is weak against Magic Damage and the enemy team has a Leshrac. This makes the Hood a great pick up to deal against the Leshrac, who at this stage in the game, is one of the strongest counters to him.
12 Minutes: Boots of Travel
Boots of Travel is one of those Boots that, if you are ahead, allow you to get more ahead, as you are able to move around the map faster to farm and join up with allies in team fights as required. Most of the other boots in the game are also quite lackluster, making Boots of Travel a great pickup on Necrophos if you are not being pressured too hard.
15 Minutes: Drums of Endurance
Ceb has opted for Drums this game, to compliment his team’s attack speed and movement speed. This can be to deal with Undying’s Tombstone ability, and make it so that his team is able to take engagements at the 15-20 minute midgame.
17 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard
Aghanim’s Shard is a very strong pick up for Necrophos as it is essentially a 1400 gold item which serves the same purpose as an Ethereal Blade, whilst giving even more bonuses such as extra damage and healing to enemies and allies within a certain radius. The shard doubles up this game in its use to disarm the enemy’s right clickers, namely Specter, Gyrocopter and Marci.
18 Minutes: Holy Locket
As Ceb’s Necrophos is usually amidst the enemy heroes, a Holy Locket not only assists Ceb in tanking up, but it gives him the ability to heal his allies more in engagements due to the passive heal amplification. As you can see, Ceb plays this game more defensively, opting to increase his team’s strength rather than just his own.
22 Minutes: Force Staff
Force staff is a great pick up in this game as it once again boosts his team’s survivability by giving him the ability to save not only his allies, but himself if it comes to it. The team fight at 22:50 is an especially good example of how all his items work together to not only keep him alive, but give him the ability to sustain his team mates. Even though they lost this engagement, his team was only fighting 4 versus 5. The latter group up at 24:00, shows us the power of his items with the Dire team’s carry, besieging tower after tower, with little resistance from the radiant team.
34 Minutes: Black King Bar, Boots of Bearing
Black King Bar is usually a core item on Necrophos, allowing him to walk into favorable positions that he could not previously do without the item. The team fight at 37:40 shows us how Ceb baits the enemy team in before popping his BKB and turning the fight around. Without the item, he would have most likely been focused and bursted down with Leshrac's overwhelming magic damage.
The Boots of Bearing is also a nice upgrade from Drums of Endurance, that give Ceb a little bit more tankiness and allow his team to shrug off slowing effects such as Specter’s Spectral Dagger and Undying’s Tombstone zombies.
4. Losers Dream’s Midlane Necrophos Build
Losers Dream’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1- Q - Death Pulse
Level 2 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 3 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 4 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 5 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 6 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 7- Q - Death Pulse
Level 8 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 9 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 10 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 11 - Right Talent
Level 12 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 13 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 14 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 18 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Losers Dream’s Item Build:
First Buy: Tangoes, Mantle of Intelligence, Circlet, 2 Branches, Faerie Fire
LD starts off the match with a fairly high right click damage focus item prioritization. This is usually always the case for most mid-hero players as it gives you the edge when last hitting and denying. The Mantle of Intelligence and Circlet also help build into a Null Talisman, which gives Necrophos some strong stats that enable him to trade better with the opposing Lina
1 Minutes: Null Talisman
Upgraded from his starting items, Null Talisman is one of the most common starting items amongst Necrophos players due to its strong stats and noticeable mana regeneration.
2 Minutes: Magic Stick and Healing Salve
Due to the strong harassment coming out from the enemy Lina due to her insanely long attack range and abilities, LD opts for a Healing Salve so that he can stay in the lane. The Magic Stick is a core pick up on Necrophos and should never be skipped.
4 Minutes: Tangoes and Infused Raindrops
LD has chosen to ferry himself some more regeneration to keep up with Lina's harass. LD’s Infused Raindrops is a very strong pick up here, noticing that a large portion of Lina's damage comes from her nuking spells. The item also provides some nice mana regeneration which can be used to heal him even more with his Death Pulse ability.
6 Minutes: Boots of Speed and Clarity
Boots help with his mobility while the Clarity is a nice item on Necrophos as it converts his mana to HP with the help of his Death Pulse ability.
7 Minutes: Crown
LD has opted for a single stat item, the Crown, as it offers very valuable attributes for the cost of the item. It is also a key ingredient in the build up towards a Rod of Atos, an item his team needs due to the Dire Team’s lack of lockdown abilities.
11 Minutes: Boots of Travel
LD has chosen for the Boots of Travel that increases his mobility and hence farming speed. The boots also allow him to quickly teleport into engagements where he can sneak in a cheeky ultimate. The Boots also allow him to chase opponents and keep chaining consecutive Death Pulses.
12 Minutes: Infused Raindrops and Crown
LD has doubled up on Infused Raindrops due to its ability to mitigate a large portion of the Radiant team’s magic damage.
16 Minutes: Rod of Atos
The Rod of Atos is a valuable pick up when your team lacks disables or catch potential. The stats from the item also help Necrophos tank up a little.
18 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard
Aghanim’s Shard is an extremely strong pick up in this game as it gives Necrophos a crucial disarm against a number of enemy right clickers.
21 Minutes: Blink Dagger
One of Necrophos’s disadvantages is his lack of mobility and is usually his limiting factor when it comes to farming speed. Blink Dagger is a strong situational item that allows Necrophos to not only initiate for a pick off and easily land Death Pulses, it also serves as more mobility on top of his Boots of Travel, allowing him to farm at an even faster pace, jumping from camp to camp.
26 Minutes: Black King Bar
Black King Bar is an even better pick up for Necrophos this game as the enemy team has even more disables and crowd controlling abilities than Ceb’s game. The enemy Radiant team also has an Anti Mage who is a very strong counter to Necrophos due to his magic resistance and mana burning abilities. BKB negates Anti-Mage’s mana burn, and hence, makes him more resistant and hence tanky against the enemy’s abilities.
34 Minutes: Shiva’s Guard
Shiva’s Guard is a strong defensive item that is powerful against large numbers of right-click heroes as it reduces the enemy’s attack speed and damage from the armor boost. As the enemy had at least 3 powerful right clickers, Anti Mage, Lina and Wind Ranger, Shiva’s Guard directly reduces the output of those heroes, making it harder for his team and himself to get killed.
40 Minutes: Heart of Tarrasque
LD’s final pick up for this game is a Heart as he is now the main tank in the late game. Heart also doubles in effectiveness due to the heal amplification his Ghost Shroud gives during its active, making LD incredibly hard to bring down, even with an Anti-Mage on the field.
3. Topson’s Midlane Necrophos Build
Topson needs no introduction. Here he gives us a glimpse of how to build and dominate with Necrophos in the mid-lane, carrying the game with sheer tankiness and raw magical power.
Topson’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1- Q - Death Pulse
Level 2 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 3 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 4 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 5 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 6 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 7- Q - Death Pulse
Level 8 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 9 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 10 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 11 - Left Talent
Level 12 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 13 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 14 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 18 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Topson’s Item Build:
First Buy: Tangoes, Mantle of Intelligence, Circlet, 2 Branches, Faerie Fire
Identical to LD’s first item choices, this is the general standard of Necrophos Mid-lane purchases, giving a strong balance between damage, sustain and stats.
2 Minutes: Null Talisman and Magic Stick
Once again, the first and strongest items of choice for Necrophos in the Mid-lane are the Null Talisman and Magic Stick as it gives the hero everything it needs to work with, from extra mana-regeneration to stick charges for counterplay.
2 Minutes: Magic Stick and Healing Salve
Due to the strong harassment coming out from the enemy Lina due to her insanely long attack range and abilities, LD opts for a Healing Salve so that he can stay in the lane. The Magic Stick is a core pick up on Necrophos and should never be skipped.
4 Minutes: Crown and Ring of Basilius
This time, the Dire team has ample amounts of crowd control, from Treant’s and Faceless Void’s Ultimates, to Slardar’s low cooldown stuns, Topson doesn’t need to focus on disables like a Rod of Atos. Instead, his team lacks damage, to which a Veil of Discord would help resolve. The Crown and Ring of Basilius are the best ingredients to purchase in the build up towards the Veil as they offer tankiness and mana regeneration and solid stats.
5 Minutes: Veil of Discord
Topson finishes building his early Veil, as it helps him farm quickly and push out waves. The item also helps him with spamming his Death Pulse, which is a prime farming and harassment tool.
6 Minutes: Boots of Speed
Boots of Speed is a general pick up on every hero to increase mobility.
11 Minutes: Blink Dagger
Topson has opted for a Blink Dagger over a Boots of Travel as his ally Slardar is playing aggressively. As we can see with the engagement starting at 11:20, Blink Dagger offers better positioning in fights. This enables him to go in and out of fights and have better freedom in landing a successful Reaper’s Scythe which is crucial in snowballing the hero into the latter parts of the game.
15 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard
Aghnam’s Shard this game has been picked up by Topson as less of a way to disarm his opponents. Instead, the shard allows him to farm quicker by using the damage from the Shard ability to farm neutrals and creeps as we can see at 16:00
20 Minutes: Overwhelming Blink Dagger
Topson has gone for an interesting early Blink Dagger upgrade, adding some level of Tankiness to the hero as well as some much needed burst damage to combo off with his Veil and Reaper’s Scythe. He is also not afraid of dying as much due to the incredible amounts of crowd control and counter initiating tools his team offers that enables him to react with a quick Ghost Shroud, healing most of the damage done to him.
23 Minutes: Boots of Travel
The game is pretty much over at this stage. Boots of Travel is one of the best boots for Necrophos as it helps with his much needed mobility issues.
2. Outsiders.DM’s Offlane Necrophos Build
Dmitry, a.k.a “DM” is Outsider’s mid and offlane player. In this game, we see how DM’s team is on the back foot in kills for the entire game’s duration. We observe how DM takes to the battlefield, even with the team’s lack of lockdowns, and uses his decision making to kite and out-sustain the enemy team.
DM’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1- Q - Death Pulse
Level 2 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 3 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 4 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 5 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 6 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 7- W - Ghost Shroud
Level 8 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 9 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 10 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 11 - Right Talent
Level 12 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 13 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 14 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 18 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
DM’s Item Build:
First Buy: Magic Wand and 3 Branches
DM's first item of choice is very similar to Ceb’s offlane build. Instead, DM has opted to go for a quick magic wand and no regeneration items to start with, believing that the initial harassment coming from the Kunkka and Lich to be not enough to bring him down before his first set of regen gets ferried out to him. This gives DM the extra edge in the early edge to secure last hits against a high right click damage target.
1 Minutes: Tangoes
DM immediately ferries himself a set of tangoes to ensure that his health stays afloat during the laning stage.
3 Minutes: Boots of Speed
Observing how dominant his laning stage is, DM has decided to go for early Boots of Speed to ensure that he can catch up to the enemy to secure kills. Without boots, he would not have been able to obtain the kill at 3:09 in the game.
4 Minutes: Infused Raindrops and Tangoes
The main source of damage in the early game for the Dire Team is magic damage from the Lich’s frost nova. As such, the Infused Raindrop dissuades the enemy Lich from initiating upon him as well as gives him some much needed passive mana regeneration.
6 Minutes: Power Treads
Even though Boots of Travel is one of the strongest boots on Necrophos, Power Treads are not to be underestimated as it does give some powerful stats which makes DM that much harder to kill.
8 Minutes: Wind Lace and Cloak
As DM is not going for a Boots of Travel, he makes up for it with a value Wind Lace. A Hood also helps reduce the magic damage coming from the Lich and Bat Rider and is a cheap pick up for what it costs.
9 Minutes: Ogre Axe
Opting for an early BKB, DM is playing safe due to the large amounts of disable and magic damage coming from the enemy Dire team. Ogre Axe is the best early ingredient to start off with as it gives Necrophos a little bit more tankiness.
16 Minutes: Black King Bar
Black King Bar allows DM to run recklessly into the enemy team and cast an arsenal of his abilities. We can see how the item saves his life at 17:20, even scoring him a kill on the Lich due to the large amount of damage mitigated from magic immunity.
19 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard
Once again, Aghanim’s Shard is a vital pick up on Necrophos, no matter the game as it gives a value extra skill for DM to work with.
22 Minutes: Platemail
Platemail is a good starting item that increases your armor and can build into multiple items such as Shiva’s Guard and Lotus Orb.
29 Minutes: Lotus Orb
Lotus orb is a very strong item to pick up on Necrophos, allowing DM to dispel multiple enemy debuffs and deter the enemy Bat Rider from leashing him. The item is a good defensive pick up on DM, allowing for strong counter play
38 Minutes: Sange Kaya
Sange Kaya is a decent all round pick up on Necrophos as it not only increases the damage you do, but makes you much tankier. The extra regeneration you get from the item’s passive doubles in effectiveness during Ghost Shroud and makes DM that much harder to kill.
1. Abed’s Mid-lane Necrophos Build
Playing for EG- Evil Geniuses, Abed is one of the best Mid-players in the world. In this gameplay video, we can see how Abed builds the hero and asserts his dominance in the mid-lane. Once again, we can see how professionals play Necrophos, filling in the gaps for the hero’s weaknesses in terms of mobility and its fragility to magic damage. As the aforementioned builds show, Necrophos can be a rather strong utility hero that thrives in sustaining his teammates and dealing incredible amounts of magic damage. The hero is usually not played in the professional leagues as a dominating 1 v 5 hero, but instead, focuses on complimenting what his team lacks.
Abed’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1- Q - Death Pulse
Level 2 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 3 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 4 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 5 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 6 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 7- E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 8 - Q - Death Pulse
Level 9 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 10 - E - Heart Stopper Aura
Level 11 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 12 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 13 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 14 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - W - Ghost Shroud
Level 18 - R - Reaper’s Scythe
Abed’s Item Build:
First Buy: Two Circlets, Faerie Fire, Mantle of Intelligence and a Branch
Abed’s beginning item build differs slightly from LD and Topson’s items, focusing more on last hit power. Abed even starts off disadvantaged, getting himself into a brawl at the river, making him start the laning stage off at 20% HP. This maybe be because that he understands that he can most likely out sustain the enemy Tinker’s harass if he is able to build up enough creep kills for his passive to kick in.
1 Minutes: Tangoes
Abed immediately ferries himself a set of tangoes to ensure that his health stays afloat during the laning stage. Even with the early disruption, the tangoes and his passive act together to make Abed heal incredibly fast, and by level 3, he is already out performing and harassing the enemy Tinker, scoring himself an easy kill at the 2 minute mark.
2 Minutes: Magic Wand
A quick Magic Wand greatly helps Abed in the laning stage as it gives him some nice stick charges due to Tinker’s highly spammable skill set. Playing rather aggressively, Abed tries to go in for another kill at 3:20, but is unsuccessful due to a good enemy rotation from the BeastMaster.
4 Minutes: Boots of Speed and Wind Lace
As you can see by now, Wind Lace is a fairly popular pick up on Necrophos as it helps him move from place to place much faster. Abed chooses to go for higher movement speed rather than stats, hoping to be able to get closer and stay on the enemy Tinker.
9 Minutes: Boots of Travel and Null Talisman
Finishing his Null Talisman, Abed has opted to go for Boots of Travel this game to try match the Tinker’s mobility and to increase his farming speed. Once again, we can see the potency of this item and why it is a great pick up on the hero
10 Minutes: Hood of Defiance
Having a Tinker on the enemy team is enough to justify a Hood of Defiance on Necrophos as it gives him some strong sustain and good magic resistance.
9 Minutes: Ogre Axe
Ogre Axe is the best early ingredient to start off with in the build up towards Sange and Kaya as it gives Necrophos a little bit more tankiness.
16 Minutes: Sange and Kaya
Sange Kaya is a decent all round pick up on Necrophos as it not only increases the damage you do, but makes you much tankier. The extra regeneration you get from the item’s passive doubles in effectiveness during Ghost Shroud and makes DM that much harder to kill. It is one of the best sustain and tanky items you can obtain for Necrophos for its price, allowing Abed to stay in fights a little longer.
18 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard
Aghnam’s Shard is a very strong pick up in this game, serving as some extra area of effect damage and healing that gives Necrophos a way of not only dealing with Beast Master summons, but reduces the uptime of Bristleback’s auto attacks during team fights.
23 Minutes: Aghanim’s Scepter
This is the first time Aghanim’s Scepter has appeared in this article, but is a very powerful pickup on the hero when there is an abundant array of physical damage coming from the enemy team. Noticeably, the Bristleback can shred through Necrophos due to the hero’s naturally weak armor gain. As such, Abed has opted for an Aghanim’s to increase his uptime with his Ghost Shroud, and make him near unkillable due to the enemy’s lack of enough magic burst damage. As we can see in the fight at 23:20, the Scepter also reduces the enemy’s movement speed, allowing for a quick turn around, and hence, game winning snowball.
