PLEASE NOTE THAT WITH THE LATEST CHANGES OF 6.72, THIS GUIDE IS RENDERED COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT.

A message from Maya:

It is rarely that I will complain about a change, but 6.72 frankly killed this hero the way we know him. Firestorm is channeling and deals less overall damage (albeit more burst damage), Pit of Malice lasts shorter, but now finally spawns corpses (and deals 100 damage), Expulsion's area now moves with Pit Lord and corpses heal allies (but don't stun any more). All in all, the hero has been turned into an easy ganker/support hero, whist losing his great farming, soloing, turtling capability. Ironically, he might get many new fans, but he's losing the oldest ones: me and JimRaynor55. Sigh... maybe it's for good. Thank you, all whiners, for killing this great hero's unique playstyle. You finally got it.

I don't know if I'll be updating this guide. I think I'm not going to play DotA for a while now. Experiment with the hero, try him in different laning situations, that's all I can say.

P.S. I did indeed post a comment in IceFrog's blog about reworking Pit of Malice. If you are curious, I've attached it here.

Quote:

Hello,

It has already been brought up many times before, but I'd like to see the proposed feature of Pit of Malice being able to spawn dead bodies. Pit Lord already has 2 situational spells that are only usable in lanes - Expulsion and Dark Rift. Pit of Malice spawning dead bodies is already brilliant thematically, and will help making Expulsion less situational with a brilliant synergy. It's not something overpowered, since Expulsion's damage is the same as Sand Storm, which already can be cast everywhere. Besides, the entire community, including avid Pit Lord enthusiasts like me and JimRaynor55, agrees that Expulsion is a weak spell that is only usable near towers or barracks. I see no reason to hold back an update which the entire community supports.

Thanks a lot.

I BRING DARKNESS
Azgalor the Pit Lord
Author: Maya

Disclaimer:

This guide is made for PUBLIC AND INHOUSE GAMES ONLY. The author is not a professional DotA player and she has never participated in any contest or league.
However, she has more than two years of experience with the hero, and over 200 games with him. Please note that every single part of this guide has been tested and proven to work.
THEREFORE, IF YOU FIND ANYTHING YOU DON'T AGREE WITH, BACK IT UP WITH REPLAYS, OTHERWISE DON'T BOTHER STAINING THE PAGE WITH IT.

Changelog:

August 2009 - Guide created.
April-May 2010 - A major update to layout, added new sections, PANIC-button summaries, tips, and more.
June 2010 - Fixed some mistakes with images.
December 2010 - Old guide removed completely.
December 2010 - Added a new build and a new section. More in-depth explanation for newbies.

Coming up:

December 2010 - Updates on what is not recommended for the hero.
December 2010/January 2011 - Replay section.

Introduction

Azgalor is arguably the least popular hero among all DotA players. I'm not kidding. While Chen, Meepo and Invoker are usually scolded in pub games, they are often a pubstomper's choice, while Pit Lord is entirely neglected. He bears the infamy of a turtler, boring farmer and a classical screw-up fail strength nuker who doesn't even have a direct spell. The rare occasions he sees light are "a situational pick" in league games (where players fail tremendously, equipping the hero with a Basilius and pairing him with a carrier in the long lane, doing nothing and feeding 0/6); and if someone happens to misclick N'aix or Balanar or random Pit, then either (Someone swap? SWAP? -swapall -repick) or (Feeding Spree - Ragequit).

This always frustrates me and makes me /facepalm, because Azgalor is my favourite hero and seeing how those idiots waste his enormous potential made me write this guide. I am glad you have come here to read it and perhaps try to spread the deserved glory of this hero. I hope my walls of text and colour-mania won't scare you off or bore you to tears. Good luck!

I would also like to thank my friend and mentor who taught me myself how to use the hero - JimRaynor55. I think he deserves at least 80% of the credit for this guide. Without him, I'd still be the noob who sticks to Axe and Omniknight.

Things You Should Know

While I've tried my best to be concise and to the point, people tend to skip long passages or get bored while reading them. Keep in mind I'm a girl, a writer and a scientist, which would often mean you will find my sentences overly verbose and embellished with too many colours. If that is the case, worry not and push the PANIC button, found after each paragraph you may fail to read or understand.

Before reading the guide, take this SAT test (link) to check your current understanding of the hero. If you score below 700, you should read the guide in detail. Otherwise you may just want to skim through the strategies and replays and try the panic buttons.

Soundtracks not to get bored of all the reading:
Folk Metal
Viking Metal
Power Metal
Satanic Metal
Dream/Symphonic Metal
Drunk Metal
Fantasy Metal
Thrash Metal
Black Metal
Pirate Metal

Stats

Strength: 25 + 2.6
Agility: 12 + 1.3
Intelligence: 17 + 2.6

Affiliation: Scourge
Damage: 62-68
Armor: 4.7
Movespeed: 305
Attack range: 100 (melee)
Attack animation: 0.45/0.70
Casting animation: 0.75/0.51
Base attack time: 1.70
Missile speed: Instant
Sight range: 1800/800

Pros
[+] The Best Farmer in the Game
[+] The Best Base Damage
[+] Team Teleportation
[+] Very High Intelligence Growth
[+] Massive AoE Damage
[+] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Cons
[-] Awkward (You Literally Stun Yourself While Casting)
[-] Item and Team Dependent
[-] No Agility
[-] Too High Cooldown on Ultimate

When to pick?

He is a better businessman than Bill Gates. He organises the fastest Safari trips. He can set the world on fire. He can bury you into your grave prematurely. He will even enjoy watching you writhe in pain while you are being burned alive and tentacle-raped and then just blow off your body for the lulz. (And to cover things up when the police arrive.)
Is he Chuck Norris?!
No. He is Azgalor the Pit Lord.

As you can see, Pit can do pretty much everything. Which would mean he can always be a viable pick. Of course, "pros" will disagree with me. But I'm telling you - they cannot play Pit Lord. Watch a couple of competitive Pit Lord replays and you will see for yourself.

Some people, however, will think that Pit Lord is a boring hero who can't kill anyone and farms the entire game, then ends up feeding and turtling. That's bullshit. If you feel, though, that you need some sort of clue whether to pick or not to pick him, read below.

Generally, picking Azgalor is recommended if:

You like being rich without having to kill heroes all the time or spend 40 minutes jungling
Your team needs an AoE massacre or a good pusher/defender
Your team doesn't have any good solo hero.
You have decent teammates.
Enemies have abundant carriers, fragile heroes or pushers
You like having a more strategic approach to the game

Skills

Firestorm
Calls down 6 waves of fire that damage enemy units in an area. Each wave deals initial damage and then burns enemies for 2 seconds.
Level 1 - 25 wave damage, 5 dps
Level 2 - 40 wave damage, 10 dps
Level 3 - 55 wave damage, 15 dps
Level 4 - 70 wave damage, 20 dps

Cooldown: 14
Manacost: 100 /110/120/130
Range: 750

Deals magical damage

Table of Firestorm's damage:

Comment:

This is your main skill. With its range, mana cost and effect radius, Firestorm is a quite good, spammable rain-type nuke. It can be used to farm, harass, kill, push, cease other pushes, and create corpses.
If you see more than three creeps, cast it. If you engage in a team battle, cast it. A chased hero - cast it. Enemies pushing - cast. Don't save your mana - always cast it when you have the opportunity to, using common sense, of course - if you desperately need to escape with a Scroll/Boots/Ultimate and need your mana, don't waste it on useless Firestorms.
Level 2 Firestorm will almost kill ranged creeps. So when you cast it, hit each full health ranged creep once and resume last hitting the rest.
This screen will show you how to position your Firestorm:

Pit of Malice
A deadly pit is conjured at target location. Any unit that enters it becomes corrupted with malicious forces and is unable to move for some time.
Level 1 - 1.5 seconds
Level 2 - 2 seconds
Level 3 - 2.5 seconds
Level 4 - 3 seconds

Cooldown: 22/21/18/15
Manacost: 100/115/130/145
Range: 800

Bypasses magic immunity
Prevents enemy from going invisible when binded
Stops channeling spells

Comment:

This skill will create a circle of tombstones in a large area and will summon tentacles around the feet of all enemy units who enter the circle or happen to be inside when it's created. The circle lasts seven seconds.
The animation is pretty awkward so use it carefully.
It will bind magic immune units, e.g. Juggernaut in whirlwind. That means you can use the skill both for chasing/disabling and escaping. Just keep in mind it stops only movement and not normal attacks/abilities.
The skill can stop channeling spells upon binding, but since its animation is VERY slow, use Expulsion if there are dead bodies.

Expulsion
Ignites the rotten gases of corpses, detonating them to cause damage to any enemy within the explosion radius. Each explosion fuels another until there are no more corpses in the area. Does a ministun on damaged units.
Level 1 - 20 damage per corpse
Level 2 - 40 damage per corpse
Level 3 - 60 damage per corpse
Level 4 - 80 damage per corpse

Cooldown: 10
Manacost: 75
Range: 750

Deals magical damage
Explodes a corpse in 500 AoE once per second
Each explosion affects 400 AoE
The spell stops when it fails to find a corpse 2 times in a row

Comment:

This skill is able to chain-react because it only stops when it kills everything. The more corpses exploding lead in more dead units which leave even more corpses. Think of it as an area of effect long duration Battery Assault.
Cast Expulsion in team fights or near towers/barracks where you have a lot of fuel (dead bodies). Do not cast it without corpses nearby.
If possible, you can use it during Early Game to cancel teleportations if you have corpses around and Pit of Malice is in reuse (or you are low on mana).
Unless you have good mana regeneration, super creeps are presented, or you need to quickly kill a lot of creeps, do not cast Expulsion while farming.

Dark Rift
Opens rifts that pass through the netherworld at his present position and a target unit simultaneously. Teleports your hero and nearby allied heroes through the rift.
Level 1 - 6 second casting delay time. Buildings only.
Level 2 - 5 second casting delay time. Units or Buildings.
Level 3 - 4 second casting delay time. Units or Buildings.

Cooldown: 180/160/140
Manacost: 75/150/225
Casting Delay Time: 6/5/4
Range: 99999

Draws allied heroes in 375 range near Azgalor
Does not teleport hidden units by spells such as Astral Prison or Phase Shift
The skill is wasted if the channel unit or Azgalor die before the delay time expire

Comment:

This skill can be used to gank, push, retreat or dodge ganks.
It has a rather high reuse time and is incapable of using normal units as targets at level 1. So use it with caution.
If you are teleporting with it while taking a lethal damage over time, be sure to cast it upon the very corner of the map. Be sure, though, that Dark Rift CANNOT teleport straight into the fountains - instead, it will land next to the World Tree/Frozen Throne.
There are still some unfixed bugs related with this skill. Pit Lord/allied units will not teleport if affected by the following skills in the moment of teleportation: Meat Hook, Flaming Lasso, Vacuum, Toss; The following skills' disabling/displacement effects continue after teleportation but do not cancel it: Greater Bash, Force Push, Deafening Blast, Shackles, Electric Vortex, Reverse Polarity; Dark Rift, unlike Blinks, will not dodge projectiles. They will fly to Pit Lord's new position and will hit him.
Dark Rift works normally into a Black Hole.

Skill order

1. Firestorm
2. Pit of Malice
3. Firestorm
4. Pit of Malice
5. Firestorm
6. Dark Rift
7. Firestorm
8. Pit of Malice
9. Pit of Malice
10. Expulsion or Attribute Bonus
11. Dark Rift
12. Attribute Bonus or Expulsion
13. Attribute Bonus or Expulsion
14. Attribute Bonus or Expulsion
15. Attribute Bonus
16. Dark Rift
17. Expulsion or Attribute Bonus
18. Expulsion or Attribute Bonus
19. Expulsion or Attribute Bonus
20. Attribute Bonus or Expulsion
21. Attribute Bonus
22. Attribute Bonus
23. Attribute Bonus
24. Attribute Bonus
25. Attribute Bonus

Explanation:
Firestorm is then learnt whenever available because this is your main skill.
Pit of Malice is maxed along with it for disabling and ganking purpose.
Dark Rift is also taken whenever possible because the non-channeling global team teleportation is too good to be skipped, despite its restrictions, casting delay and cooldown.
An optional early level of Expulsion may be taken to prevent channeling skills and items. If you have enough mana, you can actually max out Expulsion earlier, because in a bigger team fight it may deal over 500 area damage + the ministuns. However, the skill is usually delayed in favour of your HP and MP during Pit Lord's relatively weak middle game.
Attribute Bonus should be taken mid-game to enhance your HP and MP pools.
Expulsion is generally learnt late game because that is the time when you will have plenty of team fights and dead bodies.

Tips on Game Start

Insist for solo middle. Remember that it is crucial for your gameplay. Azgalor is a dependent creep killer. You rely on your creep kills in building your future game. That means you need to kill creeps at all costs. Which on the other hand means that if all creep kills go to you, your partner will get nothing. So you actually deny HIM of gold. Needless to say, this is NOT ACCEPTABLE, even if your partner does not need the money, e.g. Goblin Techies. Staying in a longer lane impairs your access to runes and lenthens your Crow's trips (explained later).
In case you are unable to solo middle for some reason, the other choice is the Jungle. Check out JimRaynor55's awesome guide to Jungling Pit Lord on DotA-Allstars (link) [Note that you might need to create an account].
Share your chicken ONLY in case you're sure you can trust the one whom you're sharing with. I've lost some couriers due to noob teams. Do not let that happen.
Try to last hit and deny as much as possible. Ignore harassment if it's minor one. Your bottle will come soon so you can allow yourself to stay in the orange HP zone. Pay attention however if the situation is an extreme one, e.g. Axe, double-stun or Yurnero with boots, etc. Don't die! Pit of Malice bypasses spell immunity, so use that if you need to.
At level 2 to 3 you should already have 600 gold for a bottle. Buy it and bring it with the chicken, then return the courier to the base.
Spam Firestorm, positioning it in a way it can affect melee creeps, ranged creeps and heroes. Try to cut off as much space as possible, so your enemy will have either to take the harassment or run away from experience and gold. Level 2 Firestorm, which you should have at level 3, will almost kill the ranged creeps, so hit them once and try to last hit the rest. Don't cast Firestorm if there are less than 3 enemy creeps or your creep wave is about to die, meaning that you will waste a part of the spell.
Do not hit enemy tower. Pushing too early will deny you a serious part of your farming and will make you far more vulnerable to ganks. It's not worth it. You can destroy the tower later, perhaps at level 10.
Ward one of the rune spots. This one is a must! You ought to have information about the rune spawn and incoming ganks. Which spot to ward is entirely up to you. I usually place the ward on the left, because the trip is shorter. If you feel you need the other spot warded, do it. It's a free country, after all
Oh, and don't forget to place the wards on HIGH GROUND!
Once you complete your Crow, you must use the Crow/Bottle combo. The Crow/Bottle strategy should be your Early Game's focus point. It is designed to provide you with endless health and mana so that you can cast Firestorm on every creep wave and endure any form of harassment, including Tinker or Shadow Fiend!
Here is how Crow/Bottle works:
1. Put your courier near the allied tower.
2. When you are low on mana and there are no runes, drink the bottle and give it to the pet. Go to step 4.
3. If the rune is up, though, refill your bottle with it and do the following:
  - Illusion: Wait the timer to reach 50 seconds after the last even minute and send one of the illusions to the unwarded spot. That way you essentially have two observer wards. You can do whatever you want with the other illusion - scout the forest, assault the secret shop, bait/trick enemy heroes, or mask a gank by sending it to the lane and queuing some move back-and-forth commands to simmulate a realistic lane behavior. Do whatever you want, just don't waste it.
  - Double Damage: Use immediately and gank or return to your lane and resume last hitting or attempt to kill your enemy if he's low on life.
  - Haste: Same as Double Damage.
  - Invisibility: If you have enough mana, gank with it. If not, forfeit it and just drink the bottle.
  - Regeneration: Keep it stored until you exhaust every single point of mana or health you can afford to. Then use it, cast Firestorm and Pit of Malice and wait until your health and mana restore. Resume laning.
  Return to step 2.
4. Select the Crow and use "Return home", "Burst" and shift-click "Transfer items" on your chicken. Then continue laning. If there's anything you need from your base, buy it while the crow is near the fountain.
5. When your pet returns, take your items and repeat the entire process. Do it as long as you remain in your lane. Don't hesitate to do it during Middle Game either. If you need mana and life without returning to the fountain, that's what you should do.

The Fighter Build

Good for: tanking, drawing attention, getting kills and flailing enemies early-mid game, leading team battles, semi-carrying, newbie Pit Lords
Drawbacks: less casting capabilities, less gank/disable/support power, less versatility, late game only as efficient as Pit Lord's HP + damage

Starting Items:

During Laning:

Semi-Carry Core:

Semi-Carry Extra:

Tank Core:

Tank Extra:

Basics

This build is more newbie-friendly and utilises Pit Lord's farming power to turn your enemies' mid-game into a living hell, and either lead your team into fights later on or become a huge meat shield bomb.

A Scroll of Town Portal, or better two, must always take place in your inventory until you buy Boots of Travel. It is super essential for your gameplay, and is VERY important. Don't forget it!

Getting a very early Radiance should be no problem for you. It should pop up in your inventory around 16-19 min, even earlier for more experienced farmers. At this point of the game, it is so strong that every hit takes away large chunks of your enemies' HP and the aura will burn them even further. Just think about it: you deal 90 base damage, plus 60 from Radiance, plus 40 per second from Radiance, that's almost 200 damage every second. Combine this with a decent disable or a little help, and your enemies will beg for mercy.

Heart of Tarrasque is the other item that makes you even scarier. Not only does it add 40 damage to your hits, but gives you over 1000 extra HP and acts as a mobile fountain. That way you will never need to do fountain runs, and will be able to self-sufficiently tank tower's damage. Do I need to say how useful that is?

Blademail. You want that thing! It turns you into a meat shield bomb. If you are scary enough to get your enemy carrier's attention, activate this and watch Mortred suiciding before your HP gets down to even half of the bar. Seriously, it's an awesome item that wrecks havoc in pub games. Try it!

Shiva's Guard adds a nice intelligence bonus and armor, and most importantly, AoE damage and slow. One great addition in Azgalor's weapon arsenal.

When to get Boots of Travel has always been debatable. For some unknown reason, everyone loooves rushing this item on Pit Lord. In my opinion, that's stupid. While you have your towers hale and healthy, town portal scrolls do the same job. It has no use in early game, and mid game you should leave creep crowds for your hardcore carrier, if you have one, and even if you don't, hunting enemy heroes is more effective and fun than pushing several lanes at this point of the game. Again, if your help is needed, you can always use a town portal scroll or your ultimate. I recommend getting it after Heart if you plan on semi-carrying for the MS bonus, and after Blademail otherwise, simply because by that time you've already have run out of towers and your pushing era will start.

Gameplay

A little downside on this build is that you will have absolutely nothing in your inventory until you get your Relic. That means you will spend the entire early game in creep genocide on the middle lane, armed with naked Boots of Speed. I know it may sound boring to you, but it's a good way to practise your farming and to get used to Pit Lord's early spell spamming style and refilling the Bottle with your Crow. Besides, it's inevitable. You have to get those 3800 gold somehow.

I wouldn't recommend ganking side lanes at this point. You have no items and you will waste your time and mana for a kill that's most certainly not going to your score, or not going to happen at all. Just sit in your lane and slap down that Firestorm. If you are going to kill someone, let that be your lane opponent. Let them get some Firestorm damage, and if they have the guts (or lack the brain) to stay in lane with 200-300 health, surprise them with one of the Combos (look below) and get your deserved kill. Don't take risks though, because your death hurts you more than their death and gold gives you.

The instant you get the Radiance, however, the real fun starts. Who wants to get 200 damage per hit? No one at this point. Abuse it. Gank with friends. Gank solo heroes. Dominate. Taste glory and power. Lay terror and destruction. Bring darkness. Enjoy the moment while it lasts.

Once 200 damage per hit doesn't look scary anymore, it's time to employ your other strengths. Boots of Travel and Dark Rift should guarantee your presence in every team battle that might happen, and you are the one that dives in right after your initiator, if you have one. Don't hesitate to go straight after the most dangerous enemy hero. When you feel it's time, pop up Blademail. You may die, but it certainly will not be in vain, unless you and/or your team suck really hard.

Please remember that you are not Rambo, as much as you want to be. Team fights should be even. If your enemy is overwhelming, or you arrive too late, don't feed, but prepare your defences instead.

Always be where your enemies do not want you to be. You must NEVER NEVER NEVER go to the forest to farm a few neutral creeps. Always push or defend lanes. You have two bloody teleports - use them! One to arrive, the other (or the first one, if already available) to get away (away is usually the other, unguarded lane).

If your team is being wiped out, not all hope is lost. I have managed to defend the barracks on two adjacent lanes. Pit Lord is really able to defend like few others can, and stop masses of creeps and heroes from entering your precious territories. I know it's challenging, I know it doesn't feel like getting a Rampage every single time, but it's a part of the game and it's equally exciting. Besides, sometimes it may even bring you the victory ("Yoo, Scourge, did you even notice that creep shower your top left tower is going through? I'm sorry but I'm going there to help them, and your base won't last long. Have fun!"). Of course, don't warn your enemies that you are going to invade them, don't even tell them their base is in danger. Let them figure that out by themselves - some pubs will actually sacrifice a tower and a couple of barracks for getting Roshan.

Finally, you don't win every game. Sometimes you will have your bad day, sometimes your enemies will just be better, sometimes your team will be incompetent, and sometimes it's just bad luck. But please, don't give up playing this hero. He deserves some love, too!

The Caster Build

Good for: ganking, disabling, blowing low hp heroes away, suppressing carriers, creating massive chaos and disrupting enemy team
Drawbacks: less durability, more team dependency, more difficult to play

Starting Items:

During Laning:

Standard Core:

Standard Extra:

Anti-Carrier Core:

Anti-Carrier Extra:

Basics

This build focuses on Pit Lord's presence as a support AoE/single target DPS.

A Scroll of Town Portal, or better two, must always take place in your inventory until you buy Boots of Travel. I think there's no need to explain why.

Necronomicon is taken as your main physical tool. The demons have great auras (Endurance and True Sight), superb mana burn and the infamous blue guy with the 600 pure Last Will damage. Overall, Necro is a great item, because it gives outstanding physical damage (only surpassed by the unreliable Divine Rapier), a walking Gem of True Sight, one of the best mana-burning tools, speed, strength, intelligence and the bare sight of the two conjured warriors can make an enemy hero retreat. Seriously, I see no reason not to rush it.

Shiva's Guard adds a nice intelligence bonus and armor, and most importantly, AoE damage and slow. One great addition in Azgalor's weapon arsenal.

Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyce provides 3.5 seconds of Hex, which can often turn the tide in a crucial moment. Aside from that, it makes your mana unlimited and gives pretty good stats.

Blademail, however, is my newest gem in Pit Lord's inventory. Extremely cost-effective and really efficient on the base of his natural durability, this item can do wonders in a messy fight and makes Azgalor no longer useless when he has used everything. Like Guinsoo's, it can do miracles against carriers, especially in a decisive moment.

Heart of Tarrasque since the remake is a free fountain while there are no enemy heroes around. Aside from the 1000 HP it provides (and thus supports Blademail!), it allows you to effectively tank super creep waves and towers. I'd definitely not miss that.

Boots of Travel - a no-brainer item for a pusher like Pit Lord, though you had better delay it until your side runs out of towers and forge on more important items.

Gameplay

I'm not going to dig in into deep details about the usage of your items. There are plenty other guides out there that focus on that. Therefore, I'll asume you already know how to use Necronomicon, Guinsoo, Shiva and Boots of Travel.

The Caster Pit Lord's play style, while it may seem pretty straightforward, is not that easy. At times you may find it difficult to control everything in the same time (I do). So, remember to keep constant awareness about your position, health, mana and cooldowns. Don't go crazy about micro in controlling Necronomicon's summoned units. If you want, just shift-queue mana burn and attack and forget about them for a while. Seriously, it's not that hard to use them and it shouldn't act against your decision to play Caster.

During the laning phase, you should have assembled your Necronomicon. Now you start ganking. At that point, you should have outleveled and outfarmed all other opponents, with the possible exception of the solo. If you have a Bottle (which you MUST get over Soul Ring, I will explain that later), there wouldn't be any problem with your ganks - unless your team has only one disable and that is yours (in which case I don't envy you). Nevertheless, if you really can't gank anyone, don't just farm, try pushing some towers. Necronomicon's summons again will prove handy and you will find that TP scrolls and Dark Rift suffice in terms of mobility (which is why you don't rush Boots of Travel, making yourself useless mid game). Oh, and don't forget buying wards. Now, late game is where your power truly shines. Expulsion will turn into a pretty nasty spell in team battles, and Pit of Malice can prove invaluable in helping your team's initiators (more on that later). Dark Rift is also of great importance in this phase - you can use it to backdoor, push, defend, save the team, or setup a mean gank. Or, what Pit is (in)famous for, you can turtle (delay) the game. Boring, but sometimes effective.

Combos

Memorise the following combos and practise them until you reach the routine level. Most of them will be only available to Caster Pit Lords, hence why that build route is considered better.

Fireplace
Firestorm + Pit of Malice
Mana cost: 275
Used in: Early-Mid Fights, Chasing

I suppose you have already figured out that the Fireplace is "simply" casting Firestorm, followed by Pit of Malice. Sounds pretty self-explanatory, right?
Actually, it requires some practice to master this method. Pit of Malice has slightly longer cast range, but the effect takes place roughly one second after the casting POINT, and Azgalor's animation is such that he literally stuns himself afore casting a spell. So the tentacles actually bind your enemy 1.5 seconds after the moment Pit Lord begins casting the magic. Needless to say, this is AWKWARD. But what I want you to do is cast Firestorm AHEAD of Pit of Malice. Yes, doing so will cause the whole thing come with two seconds delay. And yes, you are required to make one hell of prediction and have one hell of a good positioning. Did I say it's easy?
Heeey, Maya, have you lost your mind, girl?!
No. Because while Pit of Malice rises, if you have positioned your Firestorm correctly (see Skills section), your enemy will be hit by a wave before even being binded. Then, while binded, three more waves will follow. And possibly one more wave until he runs away (but not if you happen to stand in his way).
So, a successful Fireplace will cause 560 magic damage and 3 second movement disable. But what is even greater is that this strategy is easily combined with other ones, which makes it quite essential.
Of course, if you are out of luck, but think 3 waves of Firestorm will also suffice, you can change the order of your two spells, although that will eliminate the fun (I'm kidding. It takes some time to get used to my humour). Memorise the Firestorm damage table, given in the Skills section so you won't waste 275 mana in vain.
Necrownage
Necronomicon + Firestorm + Pit of Malice
Mana cost: 325
Used in: Smaller fights, Ganks

Essentially, this is the same old Fireplace with the addition of Necronomicon. This adds the whopping 197 physical damage per hit, 75 mana damage per hit, 9% move/attack speed aura, 225 mana burn spell, anti-noob 600 pure damage and a 1000 range truesight. Now that makes ganks easy as hell and will pound self-confident carriers who think they can safely right-click to kill you, only to watch in horror as their hit points fall faster than a commet crashing into a black hole. And what is even greater, Pit of Malice will prevent them escape or teleport away. And even if they go invisible, the demons from Necronomicon can still catch them and shred them. Thus, only Blink or 1-2 men ambush can help your victims escape.
Safari
Dark Rift + Pit of Malice + Necronomicon + Firestorm + Anything Else You Find Necessary
Mana cost: 450+
Used in: Ganks, Pushes, Backdoor

The express Safari tickets are sold. You will be on the other side of the map in 4... 3... 2... 1...
Fun, huh? This is what makes Pit Lord so awesome in ganking and so fun to play. Successful ganks, executed this way, are as amusing as annihilating the entire enemy team in a Rampage. You can also perform the most infamous and nasty kind of Backdooring (Note: All kinds of Backdoor are NOT forbidden, despite what pubbers may say or whine about; if you happen to get flamed because of backdooring, tell those idiots to spend 2 minutes reading the rules through the easily accessible F9 key).
Well, how is this done? First and foremost, GET YOUR DAMN TEAMMATES AROUND YOU. Don't laugh - it's harder than you might think. Most pubbies cannot speak English, yes, it's true, so in case they don't understand, try your best French/German/Russian/Chinese/Polish/etc. Seriously, pub games organisation is light years below the bearable limits. Best you can do is playing with friends. Even better if you use a voice chat program.
So, next. In worst cases, you look for an allied creep nearby and cast Dark Rift upon it. Doing so will result in purple sparks above the creep that are hardly visible, especially on Sentinel creeps; and a faint sound, similar to Witch Doctor's ultimate being activated, which is also hard to hear, especially if there's a fight nearby. Of course, that way Backdooring ain't possible but you might get a nice push. In best cases, your allied Holy Knight, or Broodmother, or Lycanthrope (Amen!) sends one of their summoned creatures and you Rift upon it. Express Safari travel!
As soon as you teleport - and this is crucial in order to succeed! - you disable the ganked target. Whether it would be Pit of Malice or Guinsoo, or some assistance from your allies (Yeah, right, lucky you!), the target must be disabled before they use their escape skill. Come on, repeat it. The target must be disabled before they use their escape skill.
Fine. Then you immediately use Necronomicon, if you have it, to track invisible units. Else you should carry a bag with Dust of Appearance. And well, after that... the Safari ends with a bloody massacre or burning ruins from a tower/barracks. Hey, Pit Lords should enjoy that kind of things, you know.
OBLITERATION
Pit of Malice + Firestorm + Expulsion + Arctic Blast + Necronomicon + Hex
Mana cost: 600
Used in: Team Fights

This is actually the simplest combo. You first bind your opponents, then you rain your damage spell. Expulsion comes right after that to prevent channeling spells and to deal continuous damage. Then you slow them with Shiva. Shiva and Expulsion are nearly Epicenter in terms of damage. After that, you start damaging the disabler (with Necronomicon) and Hex the carrier. As soon as your spells cool down, cast them again. Remember not to stack disables.
Note that heroes like Earthshaker and Tidehunter will want to initiate before OBLITERATION while Enigma, Sand King and Shadow Fiend should do that right after Pit of Malice.

The Shortest Route to Failure

Rings

Do you think any ring would fit on those fat, sausage-like fingers, and would feel good? Why the hell do you keep trying then?

Ring of Basilius, Soul Ring, Ring of Regeneration, Ring of Health, Arcane Ring. Every single one of them sucks on Pit Lord to the point it's a waste of money.

#Ring of Basilius: Subpar mana regeneration (39 per minute, whoa, beats everything), little damage you make no good use of (having THE highest base damage in the game), armour you also make no good use of (starting with 5) and it doesn't help your creeps either because you will eliminate the enemy creep wave in 6 seconds. Besides, it hurts your starting gold to the point you won't be able to get anything else, save for a salve, and costs as much as boots, which is better for you. Please, if you buy this solely to regenerate your mana, don't play Pit Lord.

#Soul Ring: I'm going to quote another thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimRaynor55

I actually played several games with Soul Ring on Pit Lord today, just because I'm the type to actually put builds and theories to the test (I wonder if all the people here praising SR have tried Bottle/Crow). It's "viable" I guess, and it's certainly not a horribad build that screws over your entire game if you get it. That said, I consider anything that's clearly subpar to an easy alternative to be bad. That's Soul Ring.

The first consideration is how you start. If you buy Courier, you'll have enough for Sobi Mask and a Tango. That's it, you're out of starting gold and you'll have to wait. The tango will not last long, if you're against an opponent who knows how to simply harass. You have a long way to go (RoR + SR recipe = 457 gold) before SR is completed...not that it will be your salvation anyway, since you'll probably be hurt by then and SR does the opposite of healing you. Of course you don't have to buy that courier, but nothing comes free. That just means the expense is pushed onto your teammates.

If you go Bottle/Crow, you can start with a naked Courier build. You'll need just 2 creep kills (and the automatic gold that will build up by then) to get your Bottle. That Bottle WILL save your ass and quickly turn the tables, even if the enemy had gotten good harass on you up to that early point in the game. If your ally buys the Courier for you, then you start with Bottle itself and it's hardly even fair for the guy you're laning against.

With Bottle, I boldly run up to the creep line to get last hits and denies that Firestorm won't catch (or would otherwise be taken by my opponent). That's because I know a burst heal of 435 hitpoints is always less than 30 seconds away. With Soul Ring, I have to play more conservatively, and actually stay back and care about my health. Pit Lord play is all about NOT being conservative; this guy is supposed to take every creep kill that's not going toward his allies and revel in his obscenely expensive inventory.

These health difficulties are a definite penalty of a SR build. So if you're paying this penalty, you should get something in return. You should presumably be getting way more farm with by spamming away SR's game-best mana regen. Problem is that I didn't see way more farm, or even the same farm as with Bottle. I still farmed very, very well, but no better than I have with Bottle. In fact, with the creep kills that I had to give up because of health considerations, I was behind what I could do with Bottle. It should be remembered that in the lane, there is a natural cap on how much you can spam and farm with Firestorm, even if you have infinite mana. That cap is the fact that a new creepwave only spawns once every 30 seconds, with lots of dead time in between. Bottle/Crow refilling easily meets this cap.

Now, SR does in fact give a lot more mana than Bottle. It's a different item, and it does have its own strengths. I actually spent time considering the strengths of SR before I tested it in my games, just to play the item as I should and give it its fair shake.

Bottle/Crow easily supports Firestorm on every creepwave for farming. Now, if you throw in a Pit of Malice with one of those Firestorms (for the purpose of hurting an enemy hero), you can still cast that 2nd Firestorm in the minute and get your Crow refill to keep on going. Your mana will be strained before that Crow refill comes, and you won't have the mana to cast a 2nd Pit of Malice with your 2nd Firestorm. SR can support multiple FS/PoM combos like that. So in theory it could give you more anti-hero capability in the lane.

Not that the full combo comes all the time though; after a few Firestorms the enemy quickly learns to keep his distance (which is one of Pit Lord's strengths). Optimal hero-killing FS positioning is therefore often very different than the positioning needed for farming creeps. FS also has a noticeably longer casting range than PoM; the enemy will often stay too far for you to snag him with PoM (and if he's smart he will run back when he sees you coming forward).

But as everyone knows already, SR's strengths come with a price. Your health goes down more and more with continuous use. I bought multiple Tangos and Salves to stay in the lane and farm away the way I would with Bottle. Buying these healing consumables was still profitable compared to using SR and not buying health, but the extra costs meant that Bottle won in gold-producing power even more.

I mentioned before how Bottle can support an early PoM/FS combo before you get strained for mana. Well, if a SR user can buy Tangos, then a Bottle user can buy Clarity Potions. Clarity is 50 gold compared to 90 for Tango and 100 for Salve. Right there is another clear advantage. Furthermore, you can just selectively buy a Clarity or two when you forsee the PoM+FS combo for hero-killing needs. You won't have to buy as many Clarity Potions if you're a Bottle user, than Tangos if you're a SR user.

Bottle is also not just an early game item. It's a great and very underrated item in mid-game and on as well. 405 quick hitpoints between fights (or during a fight that has not yet fully developed, when the teams try to probe each other first before going all in) is very good. It means you can take part in one clash, absorb the nukes that the enemy throws at you, and go into the next clash with full or nearly full hitpoints.

SR on the other hand takes 150 hp away from you with each use. Do the math; that's like losing 8 strength for each click. Now Pit Lord starts out with an excellent 25 strength...25-8=17 which is no better than the average paper caster. Of course Pit Lord also has better strength gain per level, but then again SR can also be clicked more than once. This unavoidable fact of SR undermines one of Pit Lord's strengths and roles, which is tanking (or at least being able to last through fights while buying items for their fighting power, not durability).

With SR, I still played a lot better than the other players in my pub test games. However, I was noticeably more timid than I was when I played with Bottle. I would use Soul Ring and cast, but I was often hurt and had to stay back. That's not what Pit Lord is supposed to be. Pit Lord is supposed to cast, then run in and want the enemy to waste shots on him. If they don't waste shots on him then he just gets even more damage in.

And again, I did not notice any farming advantage with SR. By level 11 with a Necronomicon 2, Pit Lord has about 900 mana already. This is PLENTY, and he will not be suffering mana shortages in mid game if he has a Bottle. The "cap" here is your need, and you don't need any more mana. More hitpoints though are always desirable. Bottle is great heal, and even more if you refill it with a Crow well into mid or late game (if the Crow sits idle at the Fountain, that's an inefficiency and waste).

Conclusion: After playing with SR, I'm even more convinced that it's worse than Bottle.

#Ring of Regeneration: Bottle and Crow will regenerate orders of magnitude more health than this item. Waste of money, unless you are going for Pipe, for which you have no free slot and which you'd better leave for another hero to build.

#Ring of Health: One of the worst items in the game considering cost efficiency. For that price you can buy 9 tango packs (27 tangos), which you will never use, and will still be left a bit of money for a clarity. Big no. Again, Bottle and Crow provides better regeneration, both HP and MP-wise, and while you can turn Ring of Regeneration into Hood, and then into Pipe, which is a good situational item (but you are not good carrier for it), Ring of Health into Hood is literally a net loss of money (225 gold), and Vanguard on Pit Lord is absolutely bloody useless. Seriously, there are so much better ways you can spend that gold.

#Arcane Ring: A lot of noobs used to buy Arcane Ring on Pit Lord, without even realising how little use of it they made. Now that it's changed into Arcane Boots is definitely a plus, but sadly you don't need the extra mana due to your high intelligence, low spell costs, and the fact you have a Crow and a Bottle, and your boots long for the "of Travel" suffix much more than for the "Arcane" prefix. Sorry.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Azgalor the Pit Lord
Author: Maya
Map Vers.: 6.69

Azgalor the Pit Lord

I Bring Darkness

Date Posted: 08/06/09
Last Comment:11/01/2013
Total Votes: 166
Current Rating: 8.21
Views: 176660