The Trees Guide Me: An Advanced Prophet Guide (Updated: 3/22/13)

Changes

3/12/13: Added a Heavy Ganker Skill/Item Build
3/15/13: Updated Jungling section, updated items with Heavy Ganker explanations, and added an Early Game Team work for the Heavy Ganker build
3/22/13: Added Screen shots and updated the Jungling section, added a Skill and Item build for a Trolling Ganker

Soon To Be Added

Off-laning Prophet
Mid-laning Prophet
Add Trolling Ganker play style to all sections (for low level play only)

Introduction

Nopunt here, and for those of you who don't know me, I have been an avid DOTA player for over 7 years now and in all that time my favorite hero to play has been Prophet. I've tried almost every available build out there for him (from Agh rush, to Dagon rush, to sheep rush) and I have to say, I never really liked any of them. So I began setting out to make a custom versatile build through trial and error a few years back and eventually I arrived at this build.

In my mind Prophet really has only 2 different roles to fill on the field: Semi Carry and Support (though I must say Semi-Carry is my favorite). I say this because Split Pushing and Ganking are key to every single Prophet game and thus must be part of your strategy no matter which kind of Prophet you play. In this guide I will cover both strategies in depth including an explanation of all my item choices. However, I highly recommend that you only play Prophet (no matter which strategy you are using) out of the jungle as opposed to starting in a lane. Prophet requires a lot of early farm to get setup and laning just doesn't get you enough gold. Just for a reference, my average Gold Per Minute (GPM) for Prophet with this Carry build is around 550-700 and my Creep Stats/kills (CS) is around 300-400 for a full game and my win rate is right around 70%. And remember, this is a GUIDE so these are just my personal suggestions as to how to play Prophet and depending on your team composition and what will be needed from you, your items can vary a lot. So let's get to it!

Pros / Cons

Pros

-Prophet is one of the most versatile heroes as he can fill almost every single role on the team: Ganker, Pusher, Support, Carry, and Initiator. Initiator is mainly in terms of ganking though, not team fights.
-Prophet is one of the best farmers in the game
-Prophet is one of the best ganking junglers in the game
-Great global presence

Cons

-Prophet is a very squishy hero
-Prophet is heavily item dependent
-Prophet's Ultimate and Nature's Call spells don't scale very well into the end game
-Prophet is easily out-picked
-Prophet requires a lot of map awareness

Frienemies

Enemies That Can Easily Kill Prophet

Speaking of being easily countered, if the enemy team has 2 or more Heroes from this list, then I highly suggest you repick Prophet or don't pick him in the first place (although if your just learning Prophet, I wouldn't pick him if any of these are picked as it takes a lot of map awareness to play against these picks):

-Riki
-Spirit Breaker
-Pudge
-Storm Spirit
-Tinker
-Wisp
-Slark
-Windrunner
-Timbersaw
-Silencer
-Night Stalker
-Disruptor
-Anti-Mage
-Bounty Hunter
-Nyx
-Spectre

Enemies That Can Easily Escape Sprout

Some heroes, however, are more annoying mainly because they have an inherent ability that allows them to escape Sprout by either destroying the trees or by pulling themselves out (Note: as abilities get reworked or new heroes get added I'll try to update this section...let me know if I left any off):

-Riki (Blink Strike -requires nearby hero or creep)
-Mortred (Phantom Strike -requires nearby hero or creep)
-Faceless Void (Time Walk)
-Weaver (Time Lapse)
-Spectre (Spectral Dagger, Haunt)
-Puck (Illusary Orb/Etheral Jaunt)
-Choas Knight (Reality Rift -requires enemy hero or creep)
-Queen of Pain (Blink)
-Anti-Mage (Blink)
-Juggernaut (Omnislash -requires nearby enemy unit)
-Meepo (Poof -requires another Meepo)
-Naga Siren (Song of the Siren)
-Rubick (Telekenisis -requires nearby enemy unit)
-Spirit Breaker (Charge, Greater Bash, Nether Strike -requires a visible enemy unit)
-Storm Spirit (Ball Lightning)
-Wisp (Tether, Relocate -requires a nearby allied unit)
-Slark (Pounce)
-Vengeful Spirit (Nether Swap -requires a nearby hero)
-Sand King (Burrowstrike)
-Huskar (Life Break -requires a nearby enemy hero)
-Windrunner (Power Shot)
-Beast Master (Wild Axes, Primal Roar)
-Bat Rider (Firefly, Flamebreak)
-Enigma (Midnight Pulse)
-Broodmother (Spin Web)
-Lina (Light Strike Array)
-Tiny (Toss -requires nearby unit)
-Mirana (Leap)
-Dark Seer (Vacuum)
-Jakiro (Macropyre)
-Warlock (Chaotic Offering)
-Invoker (Defeaning Blast -requires an enemy unit)
-Leshrac (Split Earth)
-Anti Mage (Blink)
-Naix (Infest -requires a nearby creep or allied hero)
-Clockwork (Hookshot -requires a nearby unit)
-Morphling (Waveform, Morph Replicate)
-Magnus (Skewer)
-Timbersaw (Whirling Death, Timber Chain, Chakram)
-Ember Spirit (Fire Remnant)
-Phoenix (Icarus Dive)
-Pit Lord (Dark Rift)
-Tauren Chieften (Earth Splitter)
-Tusk (Snowball)

Oh, I forgot to mention any ability that splits the hero into illusions has a chance to spawn the main hero outside of the Sprout. This includes Manta Style, Chaos Knight's Phantasm, Shadow Demon's Disruption, Naga Siren's Mirror Image, and putting a skill point in Meepo's Divided We Stand (as then he can Poof to the copy that is outside of the Trees if there isn't one already).

Heroes That Combo Well With Prophet

Now after looking at that list you're probably like, "F*** I should never pick Prophet" and it's certainly understandable. However, the only list that really matters is the list of heroes that can kill you. If you buy the right items (ie: Scythe of Vyse or Orchid Malevolence) you can still gank all of the heroes in the second list. For that matter, if you can out-farm the other list and gank them early and often you can still win against them. They are mainly annoying because you need to know where they are at all times if you ever want to split push. Also depending on your team composition, sometimes an item isn't necessary at all. That is why these Heroes are great in combination with Prophet (basically any ranged Carry, ranged nuker, hero with a blink-style ability, or a hero that has a skill shot that is easier to land if the unit is not moving) because they can all use Prophet's global presence and his Sprout to their own advantages:

-Huskar
-Sniper
-Drow Ranger
-Timbersaw
-Venomancer
-Vengeful Spirit
-Invoker
-Riki
-Mortred
-Anti-Mage
-Chaos Knight
-Silencer
-Outworld Devourer
-Sand King
-Bane
-Clinkz
-Zues
-Crystal Maiden
-Clockwork
-Death Prophet
-Disruptor
-Dragon Knight
-Enchantress
-Gyrocopter
-Jakiro
-Keeper of the Light
-Leshrac
-Lich
-Lina
-Lion
-Mirana
-Morphling
-Puck
-Pugna
-Queen of Pain
-Razor
-Rubick
-Shadow Demon
-Shadow Fiend
-Shadow Shaman
-Slark
-Spirit Breaker
-Wisp
-Storm Spirit
-Tinker
-Viper
-Visage
-Warlock
-Weaver
-Windrunner
-Witch Doctor
-Pudge
-Sand King

Skills

Sprout

This ability spawns a ring of trees at the target location, trapping anything inside. Sprout is one of Prophet's most versatile spells, but also one that really doesn't need to be leveled past 1 point for most of the game if your going Semi-Carry Prophet. If your going Support, however, you should always max this. I say that because as the Semi-Carry, stats are more important to you then a possibly longer disable. Just be aware that there are several ways to counter this spell via items (Tangoes, Force Staff, Quelling Blade) and skills (Wild Axes, Blink, Burrow Strike, Firefly, etc-for the full list check the Frienemies section). So depending on their team make up, leveling this as a Support sometimes is not necessary as all of their heroes could have a way of getting out. So before you start leveling it, make sure to check the enemy team's items to see if its worth the point. Because stats help you just as much as the Support as they do the Semi-Carry. This ability can also be used for far more then just trapping enemies. It can be used to block the paths of people chasing/fleeing, can be used to grant u vision through fog (or block vision from enemies), and most importantly they can be used defensively to provide u a safer place to tp away.

A note about casting this ability: you do not have to select an enemy unit to cast. In fact sometimes it's better if you don't. This ability can be cast at a target location and if you cast it this way you can even trap magic immune units and units with Linkins as you are not actually casting on them. Also, if you double tap the ability you will automatically cast this ability around yourself.

Teleportation

This ability, at max, allows you to teleport any where on the map (regardless of having vision) every 20 seconds. It is this ability alone that make Prophet such a dangerous hero. You could be off split pushing a tower while the enemy tries to engage on your team and you can swing in from behind with teleport to catch the people fleeing or to save your escaping team and turn the tide.

Note: this ability has a global cast range and can be used to teleport you back to your fountain by just double tapping it.

Nature's Call

This ability spawns Tree Ents by destroying trees. Another ability that can be used in multiple ways. The first, obviously, being that it creates units that can help you push and jungle. Another use for this ability, is to use the Tree Ents as scouts for Runes (you can destroy them with the Tree Ents if you have to) or for enemy heroes if your team is trying to push or Rosh. Also, you can use this to destroy trees when chasing an enemy through the jungle if he's trying to juke you. Not only will it shorten your path, but it will also grant you vision so that you can land a Sprout. This is the skill you should always max first if you are jungling/pushing and not ganking.

Note: the number of trees inside of the cast radius affects how many Tree Ents are spawned. Make sure there are always plenty of trees inside when your jungling so that you do not get screwed over. Also, when ganking near a tower, cast this spell and have the Tree Ents tank the tower so your team can dive and attack the heroes.

Wrath of Nature

This ability is a global ultimate that bounces between visible enemy units gaining damage with each bounce. Unlike what most people think, this is NOT your primary farming tool. This is a secondary farming tool. This ultimate works better at harassing heroes and keeping lanes pushed then farming. Which is one of the reasons why I say Aghanims is a horrible item for Prophet, but I'll get into that more later.

Note: when casting your ultimate (for farming) always start by casting it where you are currently farming. This ensures that the creep killing potential is going to be in a lane or creep camp where you are not (as you should be last hitting the ones you are next to anyway). In team fights however, always cast your ult in the farthest lane possible to gain the most bounces before it arrives to hit the heroes. Also, this should NOT be spammed at every opportunity. Try to save it for when you team is about to gank, the enemy team is trying to push, you're pushing, or when most of your team is not immediately farming (ie: they are dead, on their way back to heal, roshing, or team fighting). This way you are not pushing out the lanes to the point that your carry cannot farm safely and you have it for when you need to split push, counter push, or nuke in team fights.

Item Justification

Before I get into the items, the Ganker Build is mainly for the start of the game. Once you get your Orchid, you can choose to start going the Carry build or the Support build as the Orchid is great for either build.

Start of the Game

Ring of Basilius

I prefer to start out with a RoB over Mana Pots for a couple of reasons: 1) You will have a source of mana regen for most of the game (not just the jungling phase) and 2) It provides armor to you and any friendly units around you helping with jungling and pushing. Even though you start in a bigger hole for rushing midas I still arverage a 7:30 Midas by starting with RoB. Note: as you get close to being item maxed this is the first item that you sell. As you should have enough mana regen from your items at that point.

Situational: Animal Courier

As Prophet you really shouldn't be buying the courier, but if your team is stupid you might have to. In an ideal situation your team will buy 2 sets of wards and the courier at the start so you can just focus on getting to Midas as quickly as possible.

Situational: Observer Wards

Again, as Prophet you shouldn't be buying this at the start of the game, but if your team doesn't buy any I highly recommend buying a set to ward the entrance to the jungle at the Rune where you are going to be jungling to prevent most of the ganks on you in the early game. Not only does this prevent you from being ganked, but it helps your mid hero Rune ***** and hopefully win mid. If your team doesn't buy either the courier or wards, I suggest buying the wards first and buy the courier during a return trip (as by lvl 2 u can just tp to base and buy it then).

Situational: Ironwood Branch

For me having 2 ironwood branches at the start depends on how fast I feel I need to get to Midas or if I am going Mekansm. They give you 2 dmg, a little health, and a little more mana for your mana regen to fill up. Also, if your having to buy wards or a chicken you probably don't have enough gold unless you randomed (like I always do).

Early Game

Hand of Midas

This item is core to all of my Prophet builds. Not only is it 190 gold every 100 seconds, but also more exp. Now depending on how the game is going I ALWAYS Midas the creep that is worth the least amount of gold. This ensures that I am gaining gold at the fastest rate possible. Only if I feel like I need to catch up on levels do I Midas one of the big creep in the jungle. If you are doing this build correctly, you should have Midas no later than the 8:30 mark.

Power Treads

Now that you have your Midas, it's time to get a little more mobility and some more health. Treads are always the way to go as Prophet. They are far more useful than any other kind of boot (including Tranquil Boots and Arc Boots). If you really need to heal or get mana back just TP to base. Note: by the end game (if you farm as much as I do) you end up selling your Power Treads for a better item. But in most situations/games you won't make it to that point.

Maelstrom

This item is also core to both of my Prophet builds for several reasons. This is your primary farming tool (note: not your ultimate Wrath of Nature). It is far better for you to kill something in the lane/camp you are in then kill something across the map because you will also earn experience. Having Maelstrom means you can push lanes quickly and it ensures that you will get most (if not all) of the creep kills with a little bit of effort on your part. Also, it builds into Mjolnir which is an amazing item in the mid game/end game. With Maelstrom and Midas you should now be farming faster than anyone else in the game and you getting this item means you are now at the point where the jungle is no longer your property. It is now your job to start pushing lanes and ganking constantly.

Orchid Malevolence

This item is core for the ganking build only (it's optional for the other builds) for several reasons:
1). It's a good disable that prevents people from escaping sprout with abilities (although they can still use items).
2). Provides decent stats, attack speed, damage, and mana regen
3). Amplifies damage so you can kill people faster

Mid Game: Carry

Manta Style

I know there are a lot of Prophet guides out there that say that Manta is a useless item on Prophet and to them I just laugh. Manta Style is the most versatile item in the game. Period. There are so many uses for Manta Style that I can't go into them all without this guide being several hundred lines longer but I'll still at least list a few:
1) Purges some buffs/debuffs so enemies can't tell which one is you.
2) Illusions can be used to bait spells, initiations, and ultimates if used one at a time
3) Illusions can push lanes/towers with your creep and you dont even have to be there
4) Gives a decent amount of stat bonuses for Hp and mana while also giving you more attack speed and movement speed

I would list this as a core item but sometimes you need to go sheep instead of Manta. I do highly recommend that you get this following your Maelstrom in the Carry Prophet build however. As at that point in the game you really start needing more HP and, as I stated early, it is the most versatile item in the game.

Mjolnir

After Manta I recommend finishing your Mjolnir not only to increase your attack speed, but to allow you to cast its active on your team's tank/initiator as it is an amazing deterrent/damage dealer in team fights. Again this is your primary source for farming, so upgrading early has its benefits.

Mid Game: Support

Mekansm

At this point in the game you should be buying wards for dewarding and for vision and a great team item at this point is Mekansm. It's fairly cheap and provides a nice team heal/armor boost. Perfect for team fighting/ganking/counter ganking.

Scythe of Vyse

If you don't think your team needs a Mekansm at this point then a Sheep Stick is a great choice. This will make your ganks that much more effective while giving you a little damage and lots of HP and mana.

End Game: Carry

At this point in the game, you'll have to make a decision as to what item your team needs you to get next. If the enemy team has some miss chance or looks like they might build a Butterfly I'd start on my Monkey King Bar (MKB). If they seem to have a lot of invis heroes/items then I'd get a Necromonicon Lvl 3. If they do a lot of spell damage, get yourself a Black King Bar (BKB). If they have a Medusa or someone else with a large mana pool (Storm, Timbersaw, etc) then a Difusal would be a good choice here. And I know what some of you are saying "Wait doesn't that mean you will have 2 orb effects? What are you a noob. They both won't work!!!" Well actually that is not the case. Maelstrom and Mjolnir are unique orb effects in that they have a chance to go off. So your 2nd orb effect will proc on every hit EXCEPT the ones where Maelstrom and Mjolnir proc.

If no situational items are necessary, then I suggest getting a combination of the following items: Daedalus, Heart of Torrasque, Desolator, Butterfly, or ***ualt Currias

My personal favorite End Game final build is: Mjolnir, Manta Style, Daedalus, Desolator, Heart of Torrasque, Assault Currias (Note: you would need to sell your Midas and you Treads for this). If you ever get to this point my only question is this: why/how the f*** have you not ended the game yet?

Note: like I said earlier, as the game progresses you may end up needing to sell your Power Treads to get a better item. This also stays true for Hand of Midas. Once you're about to be item maxed, there is no point in keeping the Hand of Midas. It's already done it's job. Just use it one last time then sell it to complete your final item.

End Game: Support

Like I said in the Carry section, start checking out what items your team is going to need in the near future. Whether its invis detection of a Necromonicon, another disable in Orchid Malevolence or Eul's Scepter, or perhaps some spell blockage of a Black King Bar or a Linkin's. Or perhaps the other team does a lot of magic damage so a Pipe is a good item to get.

This is also a good time to finish off you Mjolnir if no situational items are immediately necessary (like I said in the Carry section remember to cast the active ability on your tank/initiator in team fights).

Items to Never Buy (for Carry, Support, Heavy Ganker)

As so many people were just reading the items at the top and not reading the justification, I removed the "Never Buy" list from the top and just have it here. That way people will actually read and understand my reasoning before they start raging. And again, these are just my suggestions as to what not to buy, but if they fit your play style, go ahead and get them. So let's get started on the list:

Im just going to go ahead and hope you know why Battle Fury is a bad idea on Prophet. And as Prophet is an Intelligence hero there is no need to get an Armlet of Mordiggian unless your just trolling. Same goes for Dagon; this item is only useful against a team of idiots and in the end game will not help you or your team out at all. In fact, most people who get a Dagon just use it to kill steal from their carries. So even though your team gets a kill, it would be far better if you actually got a support item that can disable the enemy hero and let your carry get the kill. Overall its ability is not worth the cost.

And since so many people seem to think that Boots of Travel is a good idea, I'll actually take the time and tell you why it's not. First and foremost this item is not cost effective at all for Prophet. Since he already has a global Teleport that is far better than BoT (as it does not require a target to TP to), the number of times that he would actually use this item is very limited. And, in order for this item to actually pan out and be cost effective, Prophet would have to use it at least 19 times (as it would be far cheaper to just buy Scrolls of Town Portals 18 times; 135 * 18 = 2430 < 2450). By the way, I say 19 times because there are no boots in my final build. Manta Style provides Prophet with similar movement speed and attack speed while giving more stats and illusions. So if I end up needed an inventory spot at the end of the game I even sell my Power Treads. And in most games as Prophet, you will not have that many situations where needing an extra Teleport would be necessary. In my personal experience, I maybe encounter at most 3 of these kinds of situations a game (in which case you could just buy TP scrolls). Also, if you really don't think that you can Teleport in, do your business (aka: push a tower/kill a hero) and get back out in under 20 seconds it's not really advantageous for you to Teleport into that fight in the first place. Also, by the end game, the extra MS is not really necessary either; as extra damage, health, or a disable will help you and your team far more than a BoT will.

Now as for Lothars/Shadow Blade, my main issue with it is that usually your team already has an invis hero, a Hard-Carry, or Support where the invisibility would be more useful. And, against a good team, once they see that 2 heros have invisibility or someone building towards invisibility, they will ALWAYS start buying invis detection. So for the sake of the other members of your team that actaully need Shadow Blade, don't get it. Also, this item lures you into a false sense of security as it is very easily and cheaply countered by dust, wards, Necormonicon, or a gem (not to mention Track and Amplify Dmg). This is why I suggest getting Manta or Sheep instead. It gives you more health and as long as your team is warding, and your paying attention to the map, you should have plenty of time to teleport away should the need arise. You really shouldn't be TPing to a lane if no one on the other team is visible anyways as that normally turns out bad for you in most situations.

Now onto the most controversial item on this list: Aghanim's Scepter. In fact the only reason I decided to write this guide is because every other guide that I read out there has Aghs in its build as a core item. This item is a major problem for Prophet because there is too much downside. Let me explain: for the total cost of Aghs you can buy your Midas and most of Maelstrom and be farming far more and faster than with just Aghs and u gain extra exp for your efforts. Also as a carry this item is just useless. It provides mediocre stat gain compared to the cost with almost no other advantage. Now I can almost hear you shouting about it's bonus damage and bounces and to that I refer you to my Maelstrom instructions. It is far better for you to be near the creep you kill then to kill it from a distance. The amount of extra gold that you get from this item every ult pales in comparison with the combined gold input from Midas and Maelstrom (as you will still be getting gold from your ult every minute). Also (as i stated in the Wrath of Nature section), your Ultimate is not your main source of farming. It's your secondary as it is better at pushing lanes then giving you gold. So as a carry if you are pushing out your lanes and not getting full exp and gold then it's not worth it. As for being a Support this item is exactly what you do NOT need. By having your ult do more damage you are pushing all your lanes to the point that your carries do not have a safe place to farm the lane. It is far better for you to TP to a lane and push it individually then steal your carries farm. Hence why Aghs is a bad item for Prophet. The only time I would ever buy an Aghs is if my team was down 2 lanes of Supers and we needed that extra damage to even out the lane push. But that wouldn't be until the very end game and by the time u could finish it, it would be too late. And Mjolnir does just as good a job at that point as Aghs would.

As for Refresher, the reasoning for not getting this is the same as for not getting Aghs. Your Ultimate Wrath of Nature is not a farming tool; it's a pushing tool. Yes it does give you a little bit of farm, but it also prevents you from getting a lot of farm. And having 2 Ultimates on Prophet is practically useless as you cannot use them back to back as there will be almost no creep left after the first one (so you would have to wait at least 30 seconds anyway) at which point you might as well just wait the additional 30 seconds for you ult to come back up.

Creeping / Jungling

At the start of the game make sure you put your first skill point into your Tree Ents immediately and at the 45-40 second mark create 2 trees. Sending one to the top Rune and one to the bottom Rune. Use your Tree Ents to deny the Rune if an Allied hero is not there to grab the Rune. The only exception to this is if it is a Regen Rune and it is next to your jungle. As leaving that there for you to grab at just before the 2 min mark helps your jungle.

Now then buy your items (RoB) and wait in the fountain for the start of the game (you should be microing your Tree Ents). I usually give control of my units to a Friend of mine in the game so we can watch both Rune spots at the same time. Once you've successfully prevented the Enemy team from getting the first Rune (by either denying or letting a team mate get it). Spawn a new set of Tree Ents and send them towards the jungle. Then go fill your mana in the fountain and follow them.

Radiant First Camp - Hard Camp

Dire First Camp - Hard Camp

I always start at the big creep camp as you will have 2 sets of creep and it should be easy to take out (depending on the creep and their ability you may want to wait until your first 2 die before spawning 2 more Tree Ents so they dont Ground Pound or Stun). Usually by the end of this creep camp you will be lvl 2. Make sure that you rotate your Tree Ents so that as one is about to die you run it from the fight until the neutrals stop attacking it then bring it back to start attacking. This way you maximize your Tree Ents damage and tankiness.

Radiant 2nd Camp - Easy Camp

Dire 2nd Camp - Easy Camp

After you kill the Big Creep camp, take your leftover Tree Ents and go kill the small creep camp. If you killed the Hard Creep camp correctly, you should have no issues killing the easy camp. By the time you kill this camp it should be around the 1:40 mark. If you have any Tree Ents left, send them to damage the Medium/Hard camp (depending on which team your on...it's the 3rd camp that's right near your rune) and do some damage yourself depending on how fast you kill the first 2 camps. At 1:52, stack the 3rd camp (the Medium/Hard one near your rune) and then head towards the rune near your jungle (wait on the cliff in vision of it).

Radiant Rune Guarding

Dire Rune Gaurding

If your mid doesn't need it and it spawns near you just go ahead and take it and use it to jungle (or deny it if it looks like the enemy is about to grab it). Now go back to the small camp (the 2nd image), spawn Tree Ents and kill this camp. Then go back to the Big camp (the one you start at- first image) and kill them only spawning a set of Tree Ents if you have too. Note: you may have to lure the camp back a little bit if you don't have enough mana (depending on when you had to spawn your 2nd set of Tree Ents on the first pass). But make sure you keep attacking them even if you have to tank it a little. By the time this Large Camp dies, the Small Camp will have respawned. Go kill it and it should just be about time to check the rune again.

Radiant Stack Camp - Hard Camp

Dire Stack Camp - Medium Camp

Send your leftover Tree Ents to the medium camp again to get a little damage on it, stack it again at the :52 mark, and then head to the rune. Leave it for mid if they want it, otherwise take it or deny it. This time guarding the runes gives you enough time to regen mana so that you can keep jungling all the way to level 6. Repeat this process keeping in mind that once you hit lvl 2 you should be scanning the map to see if you need to TP for a free kill (ie: someone trying to run back to their base with under 100 hp). Once you hit lvl 4 and have your Sprout (or lvl 3 for the ganking build), start looking to your lanes for ganks. Only go if your team is guaranteed a kill or if your guaranteed to save your team, otherwise the loss of EXP and Gold is not worth it in terms of rushing your Midas.

Around lvl 5 (if you only stacked the camp once), you should be able to kill it fairly easily. However, if you stacked it more than once, I recommend waiting until you're lvl 6, so that you can use your ult to help kill them. If, however, your bottom carry or bottom support is having problem getting exp/gold, you can have them come help you kill this stack (as helping them at this point helps your team a lot at the cost of a little farm for your midas).

If you do this correctly, you should just barely run out of mana by the time you hit 6 (assuming you didn't have to gank). Granted if you start ganking at lvl 2, you may not have any issues with mana due to possibly having to go back to the fountain after each gank.

Once you hit 6, tp back to base and immediately ult as soon as all 3 lanes have creep in them (I'd start with ulting the lane nearest your jungle so your not stealing your carry's farm). Spawn a set of creeps, fill your mana, and get back to jungling. Until you get Midas, spamming your Ultimate is fine. Just make sure to ult your carry's lane first. And if you know a gank is about to happen, you could hold off until they are about to go in to help your team a little bit. After you have Midas though, follow the rules in the Skills section as to when to use your Ultimate.

Note: The only exception to not Ulting in base immediately at lvl 6 is if you need to use your Ultimate to farm your Stacked Camp. In which case, you should spawn some Tree Ents, fill up your mana, and then go kill the Easy Camp. Once they are dead, then head over to the Stacked Camp (as your Tree Ents spell should be up by now) and wait for creep to be in all 3 lanes. Then Ult the lane nearest you (the one with your carry in it), spawn Tree Ents, and kill the stack.

Once you get your Midas follow my Midas guide for which creep to kill (note: if your behind on lvl the Big Creep, if your doing fine level-wise, then the smallest creep you can. Prophet kills people via items, not level; although levels do help). I normally always Midas the creep worth the least gold as it still gives you a little extra EXP but it maximizes your gold and I have no problems keeping up in levels with everyone else.

Once you get Maelstrom (or Orchid depending on which build you're doing), the jungle now belongs to the other supports and your carry. You can now farm the ancients and push lanes. Although you can still jungle if no one else on your team needs it.

Team Work (Early Game) Heavy Ganker Only

Once you hit lvl 3, you need to start looking to gank. A good place to start is most often your safe lane. As ganking there not only gives you a 3v2 or a 3v1 (depending on how they offlane) but it also helps your carry by giving him assist or kill gold. Always go for the hero that does not have a way of escaping sprout, as this is the easiest way to ensure a kill. After your gank, do not push the lane (if it is the safe lane), because once the opponent's tower falls, it will be hard for your carry to farm the lane. Just go back to the jungle, farm a little bit, then head back to the fountain to heal so that you can gank again. Remember to max your TP first, and your Sprout second. And if you need to dive a tower make sure to spawn your Tree Ents and have them tank the tower.

Oh, and remember to use your Midas as soon as it comes off cooldown. If that happens to be while you're in a lane, Midas the melee creep as they are worth the least amount of gold.

Once you have your Orchid, you should be able to gank almost every single lane very easily so start helping out the other lanes. The best part about this Prophet is that it can easily change into both the Support Prophet and the Carry Prophet depending on how you build your items after the Orchid. So depending on what you think your team needs, just start buying items, pushing, and farming.

Team Work (Mid Game-End Game)

Once you have Maelstrom, you can start pushing lanes very quickly so you need to start looking for opportunities to split push. If the enemy team is all in one lane trying to push, have your team defend from behind the tower by killing the creep waves and playing it safe. Meanwhile you go to another lane and push with your Tree Ents and try to get a tower/rax. If the other team stays in their lane, then you get a free tower/rax. Otherwise if they start tping to the tower, you can just teleport to the 3rd lane and start pushing that (or try to catch people just walking away from your team). Although, if there are no lanes anywhere near a tower or rax, you may need to go and help your team. Especially if they try to initiate without you. Just try to stay near the back and auto-attack and Sprout people that try to run.

Besides split pushing, you should always be looking for a gank with your team. Depending on which hero's you're playing against, Prophet can be an initiator and TP in before the rest of his team to set up a Sprout so they can get to the fight. This works especially well against squishy heros that do not have a Targetable disable.

Other than that, just keep your eyes open, constantly survey both the mini map and the map and have fun with Prophet!

Screen Captures of Games of Prophet

Some examples of what can be done with this build: