After reviewing Clockwerk last week, let's move to Necrophos, who has been a hidden powerhouse in Dota 2, notorious for outlasting foes in sustained fights. Recently highlighted at The International 2023, Necrophos achieved a 71% win rate, exploiting tanky, sustain-based metas that play right into his hands. But let's break down exactly why this green-robed executioner has been creeping up the ranks and how you can leverage his strengths in your matches.
Currently he holds strong positioning across Dotabuff's various hero rankings, especially among mid and offlane picks. His win rate remains high in high-level games, buoyed by his ability to counter high-HP heroes and the extended sustain playstyles typical in today's meta. Whether in ranked or professional play, he is one of the most influential heroes for players who love outlasting opponents.
Description
Necrophos isn't just a tank-busting hero; he's a nightmare for any player who favors long, drawn-out fights. His abilities prioritize attrition, dealing damage over time and slowly sapping the enemy's will to fight. The core of his power lies in Death Pulse and Heartstopper Aura, which chip away at opponents while keeping him alive. These abilities turn Necrophos into a pseudo-support and carry hybrid, excelling in pushing lanes and devastating clumped-up enemy teams.
Early Game
In the early game, Necrophos dominates the lane through consistent harassment and sustain. His starting items generally include Null Talisman, Magic Wand, and Tangoes, providing ample stats, mana regen, and staying power. The idea here is to secure farm while denying the enemy a comfortable laning phase. Death Pulse is pivotal, allowing you to heal and deal damage in the lane. Combined with Heartstopper Aura, which steadily drains enemy health, Necrophos can keep his opponents' health low, putting them at risk of an early Reaper's Scythe.
Early Game Items
Magic Wand: Great for quick burst healing and mana regeneration in case of a fight or quick spell use.
Null Talisman: Improves damage output and mana regen at a low cost, ideal for landing last hits and harassing with Death Pulse.
Boots of Speed: Basic movement speed to keep up with or kite enemies; can later be upgraded to Arcane Boots or Phase Boots.
Ability Prioritization
Death Pulse is your priority skill in the laning phase, providing sustain and harassment. Maxing this out quickly allows Necrophos to stay in lane and continue pressuring the enemy.
Heartstopper Aura is next, and a single point in Ghost Shroud is sufficient for emergencies, providing you a momentary heal boost or escape option.
Gameplay Focus
Focus on maintaining high health and mana by managing your resources efficiently. Use Death Pulse to secure the last hits on creeps and keep the lane pushed in your favor. With proper timing and positioning, this skill can continuously drain enemy health, forcing opponents to play more conservatively, especially melee cores.
Mid Game
Mid-game is where Necrophos truly begins to shine. With an early farm advantage, Necrophos can obtain powerful items that enhance his tanky healer and damage dealer role. Radiance is a popular mid-game pickup, pairing well with Heartstopper Aura to deliver damage-over-time against clustered enemies, ensuring they feel Necrophos' presence even without direct targeting. His playstyle during this phase focuses on positioning himself to damage the enemy team while healing allies and staying alive.
Core Mid-Game Items
Radiance: This item synergizes with Heartstopper Aura for constant DoT and significantly boosts Necrophos' teamfight impact. It also discourages enemies from standing close, giving Necrophos space to maneuver in fights.
Eternal Shroud: Essential for providing spell lifesteal, Eternal Shroud lets Necrophos sustain himself better, especially in heavy magic damage games. It also converts the Hood of Defiance from an early game into a more offensive item.
Guardian Greaves: An alternative to Arcane Boots, this item provides a burst heal and removes debuffs, allowing Necrophos to maintain his sustainability through fights and support the team.
Aghanim's Shard: Unlocks Death Seeker, a secondary ability that targets enemies or allies, increasing their vulnerability to magic damage or offering healing. This makes it even harder for Necrophos to burst down in fights.
Ability Prioritization
At this stage, Necrophos should prioritize maxing out Heartstopper Aura after Death Pulse to amplify his attrition playstyle. Reaper's Scythe should be used to finish off heroes below 50% health, securing both kills and passive regen stacks.
Gameplay Focus
Position yourself on the periphery of fights, letting Heartstopper Aura chip away at enemies' health. Utilize Ghost Shroud to amplify your healing from Death Pulse and Eternal Shroud's spell lifesteal. Target heroes who lack a dispel or are vulnerable to your Reaper's Scythe, securing important kills and gaining the health and mana regen benefits from Necrophos' passive.
Late Game
In the late game, Necrophos transitions into a high-impact, durability-focused hero that can stand his ground in teamfights. By now, you should have several items that amplify his sustain, allowing him to endure extended fights and continuously drain enemies' health. He excels in protracted battles due to his tankiness, attrition-based damage, and ability to pick off low-health heroes with Reaper's Scythe. Late-game Necrophos should focus on items that increase his durability and ability to disable or control enemy heroes.
Core Late-Game Items
Shiva's Guard: This item provides armor, reducing the effectiveness of enemy physical DPS, and an AOE slow that helps keep foes close for Heartstopper Aura damage.
Aghanim's Scepter: Enhances Heartstopper Aura, increasing the HP drain on enemies. Combined with Necrophos' tanky playstyle, it enables him to be even more of a thorn in his enemies' side.
Scythe of Vyse: This item gives Necrophos a powerful single-target disable, perfect for locking down high-value enemy cores or slippery heroes trying to avoid Reaper's Scythe.
Octarine Core: Reduces the cooldown on Necrophos' abilities, letting him spam Death Pulse more often and increasing his sustain.
Heart of Tarrasque: This item maximizes his health pool, synergizing with Heartstopper Aura to pressure nearby enemies while enhancing his natural durability.
Gameplay Focus
Late-game Necrophos should focus on staying alive in the middle of fights. Use Reaper's Scythe judiciously to execute heroes and gain critical regen stacks, ensuring you remain a constant presence on the battlefield. Pairing Shiva's Guard with Reaper's Scythe on isolated enemies is highly effective, allowing Necrophos to pick off crucial heroes and keep momentum in his team's favor.
Recommended Situational Items
Lotus Orb: Great against teams with many single-target disables; it reflects spells and helps Necrophos avoid becoming a focus.
Pipe of Insight: If your team lacks magic resistance, this item provides spell resistance for your allies and benefits Necrophos' tanky playstyle.
Ghost Scepter: If facing high physical damage, this item can be used to avoid bursts from right-click heavy heroes.
Blink Dagger: Provides increased mobility, allowing Necrophos to initiate with Reaper's Scythe or escape out of dangerous engagements.
Lore
Necrophos, once known as Rotund'jere, began as an ambitious monk during a rampant plague. Rising quickly in rank after the sudden deaths of his superiors, Rotund'jere seized his role not with compassion but with a chilling detachment. Rather than alleviating suffering, he hoarded medicinal herbs and gave feeble treatments, watching as the sick died in droves. His transformation into Necrophos solidified when he discovered a dark affinity for death. Embracing the despair around him, he found power in suffering and now roams the battlefield, relishing in decay and feeding on the demise of enemies and allies alike.
Latest Updates
As of the latest patch, Necrophos remains powerful in sustained fights, bolstered by tweaks to his abilities:
Death Pulse now has increased healing and mana return in the early game, enhancing his laning presence.
Reaper's Scythe benefits from updated scaling on kill threshold percentages, making his executions even deadlier against tanky heroes.
Aghanim's Scepter and Shard tweaks allow Necrophos to apply extra debuffs, enhancing his magic damage and regeneration in fights.
Benefits
Sustain and Longevity: With abilities that restore health and amplify healing, Necrophos can remain in fights longer than most heroes.
Lane Dominance: His in-built health and mana sustain through Death Pulse make him an oppressive laner, often winning against weaker laning heroes.
Punishes Tanky Heroes: With abilities designed to chip away at large HP pools, Necrophos thrives against opponents who rely on survivability.
Hard to Kill: Ghost Shroud makes Necrophos elusive, giving him resistance to physical attacks and making him highly annoying for right-clickers.
Downsides
Magic Vulnerability: Ghost Shroud makes him highly susceptible to magic damage so that any magic burst-heavy team can exploit this.
Limited Mobility: Necrophos lacks innate mobility, making him easy prey if caught out of position.
Item Dependent: To thrive, Necrophos relies on specific items, such as Radiance and Eternal Shroud, which can delay his effectiveness if farm is slow.
Weak Against Dispels: Heroes or items that remove debuffs can nullify Ghost Shroud and leave him vulnerable to focused attacks.
Abilities
Death Pulse: AOE damage and heal that sustains him and allies while punishing nearby foes. Great for lane pushing and staying in fights.
Ghost Shroud: Necrophos becomes ethereal, boosting his healing while reducing physical damage. However, he becomes vulnerable to magic.
Heartstopper Aura: A passive that drains enemy health in an area around him, excellent for attrition warfare, especially against high-HP foes.
Reaper's Scythe: An execution ability that deals increased damage based on the target's missing health. A kill with this ability grants him permanent health and mana regen, making him more potent as the game progresses.
Hints and Tips to Master
Stay on the Edge of Fights: Necrophos thrives as a passive yet damaging presence, weakening enemies with Heartstopper Aura without overextending.
Master Reaper's Scythe Timing: Using Reaper's Scythe effectively means landing it as a finisher on low-health heroes, amplifying your regen stacks.
Adapt to the Enemy Composition: Focus on items that counter specific threats in the enemy team—Pipe of Insight against magical damage or Lotus Orb against single-target disables.
Recommended Allies
Axe: His ability to taunt enemies keeps them close, maximizing Necrophos' Heartstopper Aura.
Omniknight: Provides Necrophos with powerful protective spells, further enhancing his sustain in fights.
Treant Protector: His heals and armor abilities make Necrophos even more durable.
Warlock: Fatal Bonds and Healing increase Necrophos' team damage and survivability.
Vengeful Spirit: Her swap and aura boost Necrophos' damage output and positioning options.
Counters
Ancient Apparition: Ice Blast negates healing, severely impacting Necrophos' sustain.
Pugna: Nether Ward punishes Necrophos' spellcasting while his high magic burst cuts through Ghost Shroud.
Skywrath Mage: His high-damage spells burst down Necrophos, exploiting his ethereal vulnerability.
Doom: Doom's silence prevents Necrophos from using Ghost Shroud or Scythe.
Leshrac: High sustained damage overwhelms Necrophos in fights, preventing his abilities from outlasting foes.