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Note: Editor changes broke all of my formatting. Also, guide is still a work in progress.

EDIT: It appears that they changed the whole damn guide editor. Messing with this now. Images should work now. Putting them in now.

[Introduction]
This is a guide to playing Enigma as an aggressive ganking hero that dominates the early lane and wins team battles late game. Good Blink-Fu is necessary. This guide is intended for competitive environments, as the method of playing Enigma presented here requires a great deal of teamwork and coordination. Also adding a pub section after I'm done with the first part.

[Enigma's Pros and Cons]
Pros-
Tons of laning power with Eidolons (Last hits/denies like a god)
Can jungle effectively
Causes massive damage in team battles
Malefice is one of the best disables for ganking on any hero

Cons-
Terrible HP
Requires tons of mana
Requires tons of mana early
3 minute+ cooldown on Black Hole
Can't gank alone after early game


[Skill Build]
1. Conversion
2. Malefice
3. Malefice
4. Conversion
5. Conversion
6. Malefice
7. Malefice
8. Conversion
9. Black Hole
10. Midnight Pulse
11. Black Hole
12. Midnight Pulse
13. Midnight Pulse
14. Midnight Pulse
15. Stats
16. Black Hole
17-25. Stats

[Justification/Skill Discussion]
[Conversion]
This is essential for Enigma's early lane dominance. Starting from lv.1 Eidolons, Enigma is able to last hit and deny much better than almost any other hero. In addition, casting Conversion is a free last hit/deny, thus Enigma has a definitive laning advantage from the beginning. Try to cast conversion while it is outside of the 1000 AoE experience range of the enemy hero(es) to completely deny the experience. Additionally, the ranged creep deals more damage than the melee creeps, so denying it will cause the creeps to fight at your tower, making it much harder to harass Enigma. There is nothing that the enemy can do to stop this tactic, which is why it is so powerful in the early lane.

This skill got a major buff in a recent version, allowing it to target enemy and neutral creeps. However, neutral creeps that are above level 5 cannot be targeted (Centaur, Wildkin, Ancients).

[Mathcraft on experience gap created by Conversion denying to come]

Level 1 Eidolons- 19 Normal Damage | 450 Range | 200 HP | Armor: 2 Heavy
Level 2 Eidolons- 29 Normal Damage | 450 Range | 225 HP | Armor: 3 Heavy
Level 3 Eidolons- 39 Normal Damage | 450 Range | 225 HP | Armor: 4 Heavy
Level 4 Eidolons- 49 Normal Damage | 450 Range | 275 HP | Armor: 5 Heavy

[Malefice]
Malefice is not taken at first level because it is rather pathetic at that point. However, two levels of it are taken after Conversion since it more than doubles in effectiveness from level 1 to level 2, providing the harassing power that makes Enigma terrifying to lane against. It is maxed as soon as possible since a level 4 Malefice, used in combination with level 3 Eidolons, can take a large chunk out of any hero. Level 3 Malefice does not provide a large boost in its effectiveness, so Conversion is skilled at level 5 instead to boost harassing power.

Level 1 Malefice - 30 damage | 1 ministun
Level 2 Malefice - 80 damage | 2 ministuns
Level 3 Malefice - 130 damage | 2 ministuns
Level 4 Malefice - 240 damage | 3 ministuns

The damage from this skill is nice, but the ministuns are what make this skill powerful. The target will be helpless for the 2/4/4/6 second duration, allowing Enigma and the Eidolons to harass without retaliation. If the enemy chooses to engage, you have enough damage with the Eidolons to kill them with ease. The fact that the ministuns are spread over a longer duration makes this better than a Storm Bolt of equal duration and damage. An enemy hero is free to engage after the storm bolt wears off, but with level 4 Malefice, they cannot engage for 6 seconds as the repeated ministuns can and will cancel attacks or spells, making them effectively helpless for the entire duration of the spell.

[Illustration of Optimal Malefice + Eidolon Usage]
Convert the enemy ranged creep while the enemy hero is at the melee creeps. This is the best way to use your two skills to devastate enemy heroes. Melee Heroes cannot approach the creep line without taking massive damage from Eidolons. Ranged heroes have it a bit easier, as always, but with successful baiting they can be lured to the creep line and dealt with as you would a melee hero.

[Black Hole]
Black Hole is delayed until level 9 for a few reasons:
  • Enigma will not have the mana available if using Conversion and Malefice correctly.
  • The damage from Black Hole alone is pathetic, the damage in team battles comes from holding them in a Midnight Pulse.
  • Positioning the Black Hole will be difficult against a competent opponent without a Blink Dagger, which you won't have by then.
  • If you use it at level 6 to gank a hero or two, you can easily miss an opportunity to use it to defend/support a push, which is much more important than a little bit of hero gold.

If you think that you REALLY need Black Hole as soon as possible (or are playing -em), you can go ahead and skip a level of Conversion for it.

[More to come on deciding when to use this skill, but the best way to learn when to use it is practice.]
  • Stopping enemy pushes
  • Killing base defenders
  • Turning a gank around
  • Feeding the carry

Note: this skill will still disable through spell resistance, so keep that in mind.

[Midnight Pulse]
Midnight Pulse's early game damage isn't worth it. 6% of a maximum of about 800 hp is only 48 per second, which is 36 after spell reduction. Conversion and Malefice are simply more useful. Note that Midnight Pulse gains effectiveness as the game progresses, dealing more as targets gain more health. Against a late game Centaur with about 3000 hp, it does 180/second. In addition to more damage, more enemy heroes will be together more often. This skill is useful for a combo with a Black Hole to devastate an entire enemy team. Catching 3 or more enemy heroes in a Midnight Pulse + Black Hole combo ensures victory. Not only will you deal massive damage to half of their team, your carry should be able to take advantage of this opportunity to get a few easy kills.

Another use I have found for midnight pulse is area denial. It's casting range isn't terrible and you will have a blink dagger by the time you get Midnight Pulse, so you can position it easily. When pursuing a fleeing enemy hero, cast midnight pulse on a chokepoint (like a ramp) between them and their base. There are two things that an enemy hero can do at this point, the first is to take a different (and longer) path, in which case you have more time to catch and kill them. They can also decide to run through it, in which case the Midnight Pulse will deal quite a bit of damage to them, possibly finishing them off. This usage of the skill is best combined with Malefice or another disable to maximize the damage they take from the Midnight Pulse.

[Illustration of Midnight Pulse Usage]

[Item Build]
0.
1.
2.
3.
4.

[Justification/Item Discussion]
Early
The Basilius mana regen is better than your natural regen + Sobi Mask until level 5, by which point you should buy another Sobi Mask or two from a side shop. The Armor Aura benefits your Eidolons as well, giving them a decent amount of armor early game. The 3 armor buff gives your Eidolons more effective HP, as shown below. Effective HP against spells also shown for your benefit.

[Eidolons]
Level 1
200 HP | Armor: 2 = 225 HP
200 HP | Armor: 5 = 268 HP
200 HP | 33% resistance = 266 HP
Level 2
225 HP | Armor: 3 = 268 HP
225 HP | Armor: 6 = 319 HP
225 HP | 33% resistance = 299 HP
Level 3

225 HP | Armor: 4 = 284 HP
225 HP | Armor: 7 = 338 HP
225 HP | 33% resistance = 299 HP
Level 4
275 HP | Armor: 5 = 368 HP
275 HP | Armor: 8 = 438 HP
275 HP | 33% resistance = 366 HP

The Blink Dagger is essential to playing Enigma properly during mid and late game. You should have no trouble farming the Dagger during your early laning because of your Eidolons. The Dagger can be used to do several important things:
  • Land malefice on a fleeing hero, letting an ally catch up and kill the enemy hero.
  • It can also be used to escape when you yourself are being ganked.
  • The Dagger is essential for positioning the Black Hole in team battles.
  • The element of surprise is captured when engaging in a team battle by blinking in and casting Black Hole. Surprise is your best friend when using your ult, as getting disabled while channeling makes you useless to the team.


Boots of Travel. Woo. Maybe Phase Boots. This one's up to you. BoT is good for the teleport, while Phase Boots are better chase.


Linken's Sphere is good on Enigma since an early perserverance provides all the regen that Darchrow needs to use her spells constantly, thanks to the good INT gain. It also does all that it needs to in the way of spell defense. You should only need half of a second to get the Midnight Pulse + Black Hole going, which is exactly what Linken's Sphere provides. Black King Bar is inefficient on Enigma, since it does not provide mana regen, and you shouldn't need the spell immunity with correct Dagger usage.

Note: Don't forget that Enigma's core item build only calls for 3 items. You should always have boots of some kind, a Dagger, and some part of Linken's, which means that you have 3 item slots free for wards, TP scrolls, and regen items.

Feel free to change up this item build to your liking. The only essential pieces are the blink dagger, boots of speed, and regen items. Play around with your builds and see what you like best. Sometimes the Linken's Sphere won't be very useful and you might want a Black King Bar instead.

[Laning for Success!]
GTFO the Jungle!

Enigma should not jungle in the early game. The laning advantages from Malefice and Conversion are simply too great to waste on jungle creeps. Sure conversion gives you free creep kills and the Eidolons can tank for you, but you are letting the enemy lane in relative safety if you are not aggressively harassing in the lane. You are much more useful to your team if you can keep an enemy hero or two down in the early game than if you wasted the early game jungling.

In theory, allowing a team mate a solo while you are jungling lets him get more gold and experience while you can still gank constantly by coming in from the jungle. This sounds like a good idea, but it doesn't work this way. You should be laning with another support hero in order to cripple their lane. The advantage of either shutting down their solo or holding two opposing heroes down is much greater than allowing a Lich or Crystal Maiden to solo a lane. Your team already has a solo lane that a carry can use, and a properly constructed team shouldn't require more than one solo. While jungling is an option, it is inefficient and any perceived gains are outweighed by the advantages of laning.

To make this as monosyllabic as possible: You.can.kick.their.ass.in.the.lane.Do.it.

[Replays for this on the way]

[Crafting Your Lane (Early Game/Best Allies)]
How I learned to stop worrying and love the Lich

You should take top if you are on Sentinel, and bot if you are on Scourge, since you can use conversion to pull the lane to the tower.

Your role early game is to hold down the enemy heroes in your lane. Conversion + Malefice can be used to harass the enemy hero out of experience range entirely, causing a substantial level gap. Your laning power is maintained only so long as you have mana to use your skills, as Enigma's attack is somewhat lackluster on its own. Using Conversion + Malefice at the same time to surprise the enemy is an effective tactic, but it requires a lot of mana. Conversion is always 170 mana, and Malefice costs 110/130/150/160. You will need around 300 mana at any given time to use this combo effectively. Because of the steep mana requirements, we shall take a look at different ways to increase your mana regeneration.

The formula for mana regeneration is [.01 + (.04 * INT)] * (% Regen) + Brilliance Aura, so for example:

A level 1 Enigma with 20 INT and a no items has [.01 + (.04 * 20)] * (1.00) + 0 = 0.81 mana/second


A level 1 Enigma with 20 INT and a Basilius has [.01 + (.04 * 20)] * (1.00) + 0.65 = 1.46 mana/second


A level 1 Enigma with 20 INT and a Sobi Mask has [.01 + (.04 * 20)] * (1.50) + 0 = 1.215 mana/second


A Clarity Potion provides 100 mana over 30 seconds = + 3.333 mana/second

In order to use Conversion constantly, you will need to regenerate 170 mana every 35 seconds, which means you will need a mana regeneration of 4.86 mana/second. This is easier to do than it sounds, as you will be leveling up and you should have an ally in your lane to help you out.


A level 1 Enigma with 20 INT, a Sobi Mask, 3 branches, and a Basilius Aura (from an ally) has [.01 + (.04 * 23)] * (1.50) +0.65 = 2.045 mana/second


A level 4 Enigma with 30 INT, 3 Sobi Masks, 3 branches, and a Basilius Aura (from an ally) has [.01 + (.04 * 33)] * (2.50) +0.65 = 3.975 mana/second

With careful use of clarity potions, you should be able to maintain decent mana levels throughout the early lane and keep the pressure up. If they come up to knock the clarity potion off of you, smack them with Eidolons.

[Mana Regen Allies]

- Her global brilliance aura will help you regenerate mana in the early game, and her disable synergizes with your Eidolon spam. A frostbite lets you land a free volley or two of Eidolon attacks.
- His chakra magic skill is burst mana regen that you can use to spam Eidolons. Your malefice also lets him hit with his illuminate more reliably.
- His essence aura is nice, but its not as reliable as I would like it to be at low levels, and you don't spam your spells to trigger the regen often enough.

[Best Buddy]
- Remember all those things I said about denying with Conversion? He can do it with dark ritual. The enemy heroes get minimal experience in the early lane since you two are denying like crazypeople, while eating constant Frost Novas and Eidolons. Lich has a 4 second 30% slow at level one, which is better than Malefice for chasing at low levels. See the Replay Section for details.

[Jungling, if you must]
Coming Soon.
[Supporting the Team (Mid/Late Game)]
Coming Soon.

[Replays]
Coming Soon. Didn't have any Enigma replays saved for 1.23. I have older ones, but I am going to see if I can get some inhouse games in tonight. Other than that, it looks like pubstomp replays until I can get an inhouse going.

[Thanks To]
The Mechanics section of playdota.com

bobsayshello
Dark_Link1
Forgebreaker
Pulche
Eryst_Hamor
Nargle





Darchrow the Enigma
Author: Ragbinder
Map Vers.: 0.7

Ragbinder's Enigma Guide

How to Darchrow

Date Posted: 06/21/09
Last Comment:never
Total Votes: 0
Current Rating: 0.00
Views: 2832



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