1.Introduction

Greetings ladies and gentlemen. I’m DeathMusician and today, I bring to you a guide on Necrolyte. I assure you that this is the best guide you can find on DotaPortal, due to the simple reason that mine is the only existing Necrolyte guide. Jokes aside, this is a simple hero to play well, but to nonetheless, there are fledglings who need guidance. I recall the days when I started out, I used him only as a counter against heroes with beefy HP like Centaur Warchief, Axe…but with the Heartstopper aura change, he has since become one of my favorites. This guide would be concise but adequate. Remember, it is the guiding principles that matter, not the rigid statements. You will never remember the exact sentence from a guide in a game, but you will bear faith to the philosophy. Without further ado, I shall commence.

2.When to pick Necrolyte

You can pick Necrolyte almost all the time. He fits into almost any lineup. A spammable heal/damage is always welcomed. Heartstopper has huge AoE and doesn’t become weaker as the game progress. Reaper’s Scythe is a strong anti-hero spell, used to bring down enemies quickly.

3.Role of Necrolyte

To heal, to deal damage and to finish off heroes.

4.Starting items

This is my personal preference, so adjust accordingly.

Sobi Mask is for some mana regeneration for Death Pulse use. Coupled with Sadist, it is not that difficult to upkeep Death Pulse. Tango is just for security purpose. The mantle of intelligence is to boost mana pool for Death Pulse. Furthermore, the +3 intelligence means more regeneration from Sobi Mask, which again translates to Death Pulse.

Go to whichever lane that pleases you. You can choose to solo, if you believe yourself to be competent enough. A solo Necrolyte is deadly since he would acquire Heartstopper much earlier and the increase in the level of Reaper’s Scythe swings the game in your favor by allowing you to take out key opponents quickly.

5.Skill Build

Death Pulse: Levels 1, 3, 5, 7.
Sadist: Levels 2, 4, 24, 25.
Heartstopper Aura: Levels 8, 9, 10, 12.
Reaper’s Scythe: Levels 6, 11, 16.

Death Pulse is taken whenever possible. There is no question about this; it is your bread and butter skill. It heals you and your allies while damaging enemies. This gives you the lane control you would require as you stay and farm.

Sadist is taken at levels 2 and 4. During this phase, you would generally be staying in your lane and farming. However, that does not mean that you shouldn’t be aggressive and try to harass or that your opponents would not try to inflict pain upon you. As such, there will be a need to heal/use Death Pulse, and as such, you would need the mana. Assuming that you do not use Death Pulse recklessly and that you can last hit decently well, Sadist will allow you to gain back enough mana to upkeep the usage of Death Pulse. The later 2 levels of Sadist is not necessary as mana regeneration items would be in place, as such, there is no need to max out Sadist.

After maxing out Death Pulse and having enough Sadist to maintain your mana, it is time to acquire Heartstopper. This should be a no-brainer.

Reaper’s Scythe is another given. More damage and a shorter cooldown means a Necrolyte that is more lethal at a higher frequency. There is a huge increase in mana cost, but this is not an issue since Necrolyte is an intelligence hero and that we would be purchasing items that would address this issue.

6.Item Build

Nulls are taken to boost your mana pool, provide you some cover while you build up your other core items. Nothing much to be discussed and further elaborated.

Phase Boots is selected above Treads and Boots of Teleport for simple reasons. Necrolyte does not need attack speed, hence, Treads is out. Phase Boots give you a quick damage boost (proven useful early game) and cheap armor. Furthermore, there is the bonus of using the movement speed boost to chase fleeing heroes and net kills with Heartstopper/Death Pulse. Simply put, Phase Boots give you the itinerant capacity to use Death Pulse/Heartstopper effectively. Boots of Teleport is awesome for map control, but we can get scrolls of teleport in substitution.

Guinsoo/Bloodstone

There is no question about this, these are the best items Necrolyte can have.

Bloodstone gives Necrolyte everything he needs. The HP boost and regeneration necessary for him to stay alive and spam Death Pulse and assert his Heart-stopping presence (pun fully intended). Like I mentioned under the Roles Section, Necrolyte needs to heal allies and deal damage. Much of Necrolyte’s damage comes from Death Pulse and Heartstopper’s Aura. As such, the onus is on Necrolyte to stay alive. Your allies need to understand that keeping Necrolyte alive is akin to keeping the team alive, for the old priest can heal and dish out damage both at the same time. The greatest asset Necrolyte brings to the battlefield is his presence.

Guinsoo is an excellent choice of weapon for Necrolyte to wield due to the fact it allows Necrolyte to be aggressive. Hex and have your enemy slow to a crawl while you assert your heart-stopping presence along with some pulses of death. Laugh as you and your buddies flog the poor soul silly. One crucial advantage Guinsoo grants is that it gives you the initiative. While hexed, your opponents are totally helpless and unable to retaliate. You take out magic resistance as well-which will frustrate you when you trying to kill using Reaper’s Scythe.

So now the question begets which to opt for first? It goes down to gameplay conditions and preferences. If you have an initiator on your side (for example Enigma), then by all means go for a Bloodstone, since there’s ample time for you to saunter into the midst of the battle. Yet if your team is gank-oriented, going for Guinsoo will give you a more effective and powerful Necrolyte. Concept is simple. Your allies will gank hard and you will contribute the hex. Hex and plummet the poor sheep, finishing off with Reaper’s Scythe if necessary. An early hex is always devastating to deal with, and Necrolyte can easily farm for a quick Guinsoo. With the numerical advantage gained, your team would seize the opportunity to push, capitalizing on the fact that being under-manned, your nemesis should be wary about engaging in a clash. This should generally translate to a tower, which means more gold, more items, more own.

You play the game, you play the hero, you make the call.


7.Extension Items

Once you have a nifty mana regeneration, farming is a breeze. As such, the possibility of further items is very possible. Now barring any grave circumstances such as a frantic requirement to silence the godlike Nerubian Assassin on the other side or to quell this annoying QOP that keeps blinking everywhere and wrecking havoc, the item I suggest to procure would be Shiva’s Guard.I’m certain this query pops to mind. Arctic Blast deals a fixed 200 damage and since this is the third major item Necrolyte would be getting, surely 200 yet-to-be-reduced magical damage is close to useless? The reason why we’re getting Shiva’s Guard is not for the Arctic Blast, although it comes in handy for even quicker taking out of low HP heroes like intelligence heroes. What we seek is the -15% attack speed aura and the +15 armor. The -15% attack speed aura is a semi-disable for your opponents, slowing their attacks. Less attacks simply render less damage. After Bloodstone, you have a good HP pool, so the next thing to boost would be your EHP (effective HP-how well you can withstand against physical attacks), and increasing armor is the evident path to take. The 40% slow could prove constructive when you’re chasing to kill, catching adversaries into your Death Pulse’s AoE.


8.Some possible but rejected ItemsWith the recent changes, this used-to-be pricey item is now at an affordable 4,300 gold. However, I do not advise getting it due to the fact it does little except to improve your ultimate. Even then, it blows. An upgraded Reaper’s Scythe will hit for an additional 200 bonus damage on an enemy with four grand HP. If one is looking for a boost in survival with the added HP, well, the gold would be better spent on a lot of other items, like even Reaver-yes, serious.

Dagon

I know there’s the fantasy of Dagon-Reaper’s Scythe killer combo, but as it is, a fantasy. Necrolyte does not possess any form of high burst damage (other than his ultimate) and he is no nuker. Pretty fun to have indeed, but if you want the biggest bang for your buck, you need to look at other options.

Refresher Orb

For 5,300 gold, I would rather you get a damage item (like Desolater) if you’re desperate to kill, rather than spend absurd amounts of mana and gold to get 2 Reaper’s Scythes.

Mekansm

You already possess a heal that has 5 seconds cooldown; ask yourself if this is overkill on healing. Armor boost is pretty neat, but aim for bigger and better items.

9.How to fight

a)This is actually more on the aspect of finishing and ganking but one of the first things I would like to bring up is that Reaper’s Scythe can be used to assist. It is an awesome finisher, but it can act as a set-up play as well. Reaper’s Scythe has incredible 1.5 second stun. It has a casting range of 600, out-ranging competent stuns like Magic Missile. You put the two together, there is the flexibility of using Reaper’s Scythe to stun an enemy so as to allow allies to catch up and send their own stuns/disables/nukes in for the kill. It could even be using the stun so that you can edge closer and send in a few hits coupled with Death Pulse to earn yourself yet another kill. Take note, I am far from proposing that we use Reaper’s Scythe on a full health hero just for the stun. Balance and weigh your judgment carefully. With great powers come great responsibility…failure to live up may result in rolls of insults from friends and foes alike.

b)Hit every single opponent with Heartstopper Aura. This is a real pain in the ass and your key damage skill. It has huge AoE so this should be easy.

c)Reach out to your allies and heal. You would expect the Vengeful Spirit to stun the key player-similarly, you are a healer and your allies expect to be healed. If in the predicament of damaging rivals or healing your own folks, choose the latter. You scratch their backs, they would scratch yours. If you have done part b correctly, you can forgo this part of damage. When you ensure your allies stay safe, you have accomplished a huge part of your role. Crucially, your allies’ safety goes a long way in enforcing your personal well-being.

d)Hex. This is important. Hex your most critical foe, the one that makes the difference. Hints: Earthshaker, Enigma.

e)Embrace participation in ganks with nukers. Pair yourself up with a hero that does high burst damage, for instance, Lina Inverse. The idea is simple-a huge gallery of nukes fall upon the unfortunate soul and you would finish off with Reaper’s Scythe.



10.Replays

In all honesty, Necrolyte is a hero that doesn’t require a replay to learn. There isn’t much to him. He’s not like Pudge which requires viewing games to pick up some tips on how to hook. I would rather you take the time spent on viewing a replay to actually go play a game. Nonetheless, will try to get some replays.

Replay link 1: http://forum.esnation.com/showthread...94#post1680994


11.Closing Message

Thank you for reading my guide. I believe I have taught you sufficient to become a Necrolyte that does his job well and leads his team to glory. Now it is time for you to go have some fun.