"Again and again, I live and die."
Competitive guide to Dirge, the Undying
Alright. Hello everyone. I am someone with 7 years of experience at DotA and retired semi-professional WarCraft 3 player. I have decided to make a serie of Dota 2 themed guides. My goal is to make them orientated towards competitive gaming. I will start with the heroes whose guides here on PD are outdated and then I will proceed with others in the future. I am Bulgarian and English is not my native language, so please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes. Let's start with Dirge, the Undying.
Content
♠ Alt-tab Guide
♠ Hero Introduction
♠ Skills
♠ Skill Build
♠ Item Build
♠ Gameplay
♠ Allies and Foes
♠ Replays
♠ Credits
Hero Introduction
How long has it been since he lost his name? The torn ruin of his mind no longer knows.
Dimly he recalls armor and banners and grim-faced kin riding at his side. He remembers a battle: pain and fear as pale hands ripped him from his saddle. He remembers terror as they threw him into the yawning pit of the Dead God alongside his brothers, to hear the Dirge and be consumed into nothingness. In the darkness below, time left them. Thought left them. Sanity left them. Hunger, however, did not. They turned on each other with split fingernails and shattered teeth. Then it came: distant at first, a fragile note at the edge of perception, joined by another, then another, inescapable and unending. The chorus grew into a living wall of sound pulsing in his mind until no other thought survived. With the Dirge consuming him, he opened his arms to the Dead God and welcomed his obliteration. Yet destruction was not what he'd been chosen for. The Dead God demanded war. In the belly of the great nothing, he was granted a new purpose: to spread the Dirge across the land, to rally the sleepless dead against the living. He was to become the Undying, the herald of the Dead God, to rise and fall and rise again whenever his body failed him. To trudge on through death unending, that the Dirge might never end. Dirge is a melee strenght hero whose role in the game the may differ depending on the item build and playstyle. He can endure high amounts of punishment, push lanes, amplify all kinds of damage and heal. His role is something that I like to call an offensive support. He can also be played as a mid-game semi-carry.
22 + 2.1
10 + 0.8
27 + 2.0
| Level | 1 | 16 | 25 | | Hit Points | 568 | 1195 | 1898 | | Mana | 351 | 767 | 1235 | | Damage | 57-65 | 90-98 | 127-135 | | Armor | 3.4 | 5.36 | 8.86 | | Attacks/s | 0.64 | 0.72 | 0.87 |
| Movement Speed | 310 | | Sight Range | 1800/800 | | Attack Range | Melee | | Missile Speed | Instant | | Attack Duration | 0.3+0.3 | | Cast Duration | 0.45+0.51 | | Base Attack Time | 1.7 |
Pros
+ Durable
+ Can push
+ Can initiate
Cons
- Mana dependant
- Little farming Potential
- Scales poorly into the late game
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Skills
Decay
Undying saps the life from enemy Heroes in an area, dealing damage and stealing Strength for the duration.
Range: 625
Radius: 300
Duration: 21/24/27/30
Strength Stolen: 4
Damage: 40/80/120/160
 10/8/6/4
 70/90/110/130
Okay. This is an AOE spell that is blocked by Black King Bar, but not by Linken's Sphere. What is important to note here is that Dirge steals 4 strenght from all heroes that are caught in the area of the spell when cast for up to 30 seconds. Each point in STR provides 19 hp. This means the Undying steals 76 HP from each hero that is targeted by Decay. Decay stacks, but can't reduce a Hero's strength below 1. The strength loss takes effect before the damage. Soul Rip
Redirects the flow of energy through a target friendly or enemy unit, healing or damaging it depending on how many units are near it. Each counted unit takes damage.
Range: 650
Radius: 975
Maximum Units: 5/10/15/20
Heal/Damage per Unit: 25
25/20/15/10
50/75/100/125
Dirge's second spell is blocked by both BKB and Linken's Sphere. Can heal Tombstone, but can't heal or damage any other buildings. Every counted unit, ally or enemy, takes 25 damage; units cannot be killed by this if there is nothing else nearby to be linked, in which case the target is damaged for 25 HP that is considered direct HP removal (which is not lethal). Tomb Stone
Summons a tombstone at the target point. Zombies will frequently spawn next to every enemy unit in the area around the Tombstone, and attack them. Zombies have the Deathlust ability, which causes their attacks to slow the target, and if the target reaches below a certain amount of health, increases the attack and movement speed of the zombie.
Range: 600
Radius: 400/600/800/1000
Duration: 15/20/25/30
Spawn Interval: 3
Hit points: 200/400/600/800
Armor: 10
60
120/130/140/150
Tombstone is magic immune, but can be healed by Soul Rip. Zombies won't spawn on invisible units. Zombies cannot be controlled. Zombies will not spawn to attack buildings. Zombies will not spawn in fog of war. Zombies possess Spell Immunity and benefit from auras. Vladimir's Offering gives them +6 damage.
Zombie statistics:
Duration 60
Hit Points 30
Damage 37-45
Armor 0
Movement Speed 375
Sight Range 1400/1400
Attack Range Melee
Attack Duration 0.3+0.3
Base Attack Time 1.6
Notes Possesses Deathlust
Magic Immune
Deathlust
Deathlust slows enemy units on attack. If the attacked unit's health goes below the threshold, the zombie receives enhanced movement and attack speed.
Movement Speed Slow: 7%
Movement Speed Slow Duration: 2.5
Health Threshold: 100/200/300/400
Bonus Attack and Movement Speed: 50%
Flesh Golem
Undying transforms into a horrifying flesh golem that possesses a Plague Aura. This aura slows all enemy units within 750 range and amplifies the damage they take; the closer to Undying, the more damage. When a plagued unit dies, Undying is healed equal to a percentage of the unit's maximum health.
Radius: 750
Duration: 30
Maximum Damage Amplification: 20%/25%/30% (25%/30%/35%*)
Minimum Damage Amplification: 5%/10%/15% (10%/15%/20%*)
Amount Healed on Hero Death: 6% (10%*)
Amount Healed on Non-Hero Death: 2% (3%*)
Movement Slow: 9%
75
100
 Increases damage amplification and percent of HP healed (* shows upgraded values).
This spell gives a negative aura to the enemies, thus it goes through BKB. The souls of units killed near Undying will return to heal him even if he did not kill them. Plague Aura is strongest within 200 distance of Undying and decreases farther away from him. Dying illusions do not trigger Plague Aura's heal.
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Skill Builds
Alright. So all of Dirge's spells are worth leveling up early game, depending on the situation. However, there are some important things to note about each of them:
Decay - Spammable spell. Mana may not suffice.
Soul Rip - There are not many units and team fights are rare/non-existant in the early game. Most of the time it is not worth leveling Soul Rip past level 2 (rarely 3) until the mid-late game unless the lineup is centered around pushing with lots of summons.
Tombstone - Unreliable spell. Has a long cooldown and it is easily focused down.
Flesh Golem - Has a a constant 9% slowing aura at all levels. Manacost and cooldown remain the same. Sometimes this spell can be delayed if the lineup revolves around pushing with summons, in which case it is sometimes worth maxing Soul Rip by level 10.
There is no way to determine a static spell build for any hero and Dirge is not an exception. Here are two variations of what I find most useful in two different scenarios:
1. Soul Rip
2. Decay / Tombstone
3. Soul Rip
4. Tombstone / Decay
5. Tombstone
6. Flesh Golem
7. Tombstone
8. Tombstone
9. Decay
10. Decay
11. Flesh Golem
12. Decay
13. Soul Rip
14. Soul Rip
15. Stats
16. Flesh Golem
17-25. Stats
Ok, this looks about right. Pretty standard actually. Decay isn't taken until the end of early game due to mana issues. Getting Tombstone at level 2 or 4 depends on if you want to hurt the tower early.
1. Decay
2. Soul Rip
3. Soul Rip
4. Tombstone
5. Tombstone
6. Tombstone
7. Tombstone
8. Soul Rip
9. Soul Rip
10. Flesh Golem
11. Flesh Golem
12. Decay
13. Decay
14. Decay
15. Stats
16. Flesh Golem
17-25. Stats
This is a situational skill build which prioritizes Tombstone and Soul Rip. The idea behind this is actually a pushing lineup with a lot of summons either on Dirge's or the opposing side. Ultimate is delayed for two reasons: 1. Soul Rip's roof in the early game raises with more units online and 2. If the enemies are applying this kind of pressure, Dirge is going to need more EHP before he can go Rambo on the adversaries. Until then he should keep his distance.
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Item Build
Pick the combination that works best for you among these items. Stout Shield helps a lot in aggressive lanes, it could be upgraded to Vanguard or sold later. Ring of Protection will be needed for a Ring of Bassilius and the Ironwood Branches for a Magic Wand. Consumables are a must during the early laning phase.
Ring of Basilius is very important. It gives Dirge and whatever is around him a bit more tankiness and mana regeneration, both of which he desperately needs.
Magic Stick is a good item on every single hero. Getting and upgrading it to Magic Wand is very important as Dirge will be in the middle of the melee, receiving punishment throughout the entire game. It can be delayed if the lane Dirge is in requires him to have a Ring of Health in order to stay in it. Running to the fountain and back/wasting gold on TP scrolls doesn't help at all.
Ring of Health will be needed for Hood of Defiance or Vanguard.
Boots of Speed are bought for obvious reasons.
Arcane Boots are the boots of choice for Dirge. Later they can be disassembled in order to use the Energy Booster for Bloodstone and the original boots can be upgraded to Boots of Travel.
As said earlier, Dirge should be in the middle of the melee. He receives extreme benefits from Magic Wand.
Hood of Defiance is a great item on Dirge. It can later be upgraded to Pipe of Insight, which can result game breaking if rushed in some scenarios.
Platemail provides +10 to armor. It will be used as a part of Shiva's Guard. Explanation why and when to choose it over Vanguard will follow below.
Vitality Booster is very useful for the HP it provides for a cheap price early game and can later be upgraded to Bloodstone or Heart of Tarrasque.
Pipe of Insight is a great extension for the core item Hood of Defiance. It can game breaking in some scenarios if rushed.
Shiva's Guard is an Extension/Luxury item. It gives +15 to armor and solves all mana problems. It increases EHP, reducing physical damage with the bonus armor and the slow of enemy attack rate. Increases presence in team fights with the passive Freezing Aura and the active ability Arctic Blast:
Arctic Blast
Emits a freezing wave that does 200 damage to enemies and slows their movement by 40% for 4 seconds. The wave extends at a speed of 300, and for the record, this item doesn't break channeling abilities. Blocked by BKB.
Radius: 719
30
100
Freezing Aura
Reduces attack speed on enemies. Multiple instances of Freezing Aura do not stack. Not blocked by BKB.
Attack Speed Slow: 25
Radius: 1000
Bloodstone is perfect for Dirge. The Energy Booster from Arcane Boots can be used, which makes it a bit easier to build Bloodstone. It solves Dirge's mana problems, provides a good amount of HP and gives Undying another reason to go rambo in a team fight - to die, heal his allies one final time and revive sooner due to Bloodstone charges and join the battle once again.
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Dirge the Undying
