Again and again, I live and die (A guide to Dirge, the Undying)

Introduction

Dirge N. A song or hymn of grief or lamentation; especially : one intended to accompany funeral or memorial rites

I feel that this reflects Dirge's playstyle pretty well. Opponents will hate you in teamfights, despise you in lane, and "THEY SING THE SONG OF DEATH" will become a commonly heard voice line once you pick up the mid-game monstrosity that is Undying.

Pros and Cons (in detail in "Why he's great)

Pros:

Ridiculously good early-game
Strong heals/sustain
Great attack animation
High int gain
Good natural tankiness
Incredible damage-amplification ultimate


Cons:

Literally the worst agi gain in the game
Falls off late-game
Spells have short-mid range
Requires a lot of enemies to be effective
Needs a support in lane to secure kills (no natural hard disables)
Arcane boots are a must!

But who is Dirge, exactly?

Hero : Dirge, the Undying

Primary Attribute: Strength

Primary Role: Tank/Countergank/Caster
Str: 22 + 2.1
Agi: 10 + 0.8
Int: 27 + 2.0

Ability Set:

Decay:

Undying saps the life from enemy Heroes in an area, dealing damage and stealing Strength for the duration.
Range: 625
Radius: 325
Duration: 25/30/35/40
Strength Stolen: 4
Damage: 40/80/120/160
C/D: 10/8/6/4 Mana: 70/90/110/130
The strength of the living is simply borrowed from the strength of the dead.

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Literally the strongest early game spell, simply because of the flat nature of its damage. 4 str = 76 hp stolen from an enemy hero and given to you per cast. Harass hurts that much more, diving is that much easier, and slowly the enemy team grows weaker (even Pudge will feel the pain) as you become much, much stronger. Be wary, though, as spamming this will eat up your mana pool. Save it to get the kill with the aoe damage or to soften up a hero before you kill him in a lane/before a teamfight (get atleast 2 stacks on a hero early game, and dive them right away.) Level this thing to 2 as fast as possible, as that's when the damage starts to really become apparent, while the mana cost is still relatively low.
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Soul Rip:

Redirects the flow of energy through a target friendly or enemy unit, healing or damaging it depending on how many units are near Undying. Each counted unit takes damage.
Range: 650
Radius: 975
Maximum Units: 5/10/15/20
Heal/Damage per Unit: 25
C/D: 25/20/15/10 Mana: 50/75/100/125
Even his allied Heroes feel despair in Undying's presence.

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Great nuke or heal, does damage based on number of units around target (allied or enemy). Removes 25 hp off of every unit and turns that into a heal/nuke on target. Great for finishing off a fleeing enemy, keeping you alive during a fight, or saving a carry. Remember, ten creeps in a lane = 10 units max at lvl 2, so keep it there.
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Tombstone:

Summons a tombstone at the target point. Zombies will frequently spawn next to every enemy unit in the area around the Tombstone, and attack them. Zombies have the Deathlust ability, which causes their attacks to slow the target, and if the target reaches below a certain amount of health, increases the attack and movement speed of the zombie.
Range: 600
Radius: 400/600/800/1000
Duration: 15/20/25/30
Spawn Interval: 3
Hit points: 200/400/600/800
C/D: 60 Mana: 120/130/140/150
Dirge calls on his fallen brothers to fight for the Dead God.

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A skill so strong it ought to be an ultimate. Satisfy your lust for an army of allied undead that eat away at the enemy team. The longer the fight, the more zombies that stack up. They might die in one hit, but this becomes a problem when there's about 8 on you at one time. Get this thing to 4 right away, and take control of mid-game teamfights. Remember, you can heal the Tombstone with Soul Rip - keep it alive!
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Flesh Golem:

Undying transforms into a horrifying flesh golem that possesses a Plague Aura. This aura slows all enemy units within 750 range and amplifies the damage they take; the closer to Undying, the more damage. When a plagued unit dies, Undying is healed equal to a percentage of his maximum health.
Radius: 750
Duration: 30
Maximum Damage Amplification: 20%/25%/30% (25%/30%/35%*)
Minimum Damage Amplification: 5%/10%/15% (10%/15%/20%*)
Amount Healed on Hero Death: 6% (10%*)
Amount Healed on Non-Hero Death: 2% (3%*)
Movement Slow: 9%
C/D: 75 Mana: 100
Aghs: Increases damage amplification and percent of HP healed.
The flesh of the recently dead add to the power of Dirge's plague.

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Dirge's kit wrapped up in a nice, high-utility ultimate. High damage amp, a weak slow, and a small heal. I can not stress this enough: that damage amp is INSANE, and the heal, while seeming minuscule, really adds up. Avoid at 6, as you want at least two levels in your Tombstone (15 second duration to 30 second duration) before you get the damage amp. Pop every fight and start smacking away.
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Why he's great; His greatest weaknesses

Greatness

There's a reason this powerhouse is on a first-pick basis at the professional level.

With the resurgence of trilanes, his role in the scene has gone from ultra-situational pick to insane flexibility, ranging from a (4) to a (1) on the farming scale.

But, how do these correlate? Quite simply, Dirge's spells scale with the amount of heroes around him (trilanes = at least 4 heroes in a lane), and his ability to crush mid-game fights has crafted him into a popular pick. Kill Dirge and suffer his zombies, or kill his tombstone and take the debuffs, both are options that want to be avoided.

Adding him to any team ramps up that team's midgame, guarantees atleast one won lane, and forces the enemy team to plan a way around him. If you want these on your team, consider drafting the Undying.

Weakness

With all of these skills at his disposal, how can Dirge possibly be weak?

Four words: Silences and Burst Damage. Seriously. Dirge loves to walk around, being a massive nuisance and slowly eroding away his opponents while building up his own strength.

Silences stop him from using his repertoire of life-prolonging spells, and burst stops him from chipping away at the enemy team, as his tiny heals aren't very strong against a laguna blade. Even the dead may die....again. Consider this when drafting AGAINST a Dirge.

Strategy

Playstyle

Undying's playstle is pretty straightforward, now that you understand the hero.

Early-Game

Lane with a support in a duo or trilane, farm up a mek/pipe/etc and arcanes, and kill the opposing lane anytime he gets near the creep wave.
Don't go ganking, but farm up and always, as usual, carry a tp and jump in on any fight near your tower. You, as Dirge, LOVE to take early fights.

Mid-Game

Once you've done this, just start wrecking towers, as the opposing team probably can't handle your midgame strength. As Dirge, it's important to end the game as fast as possible, as your strength goes downhill past the 25 minute mark.

Late-Game

Welcome to the twilight zone. If you did your job early and mid-game, but somehow didn't win, this'll be an easy time for your carry to chew through the enemy team. Stack up on utility items, and use your tombstone sparingly, as it dies in seconds to now-powerful right-clicks. Heal up your carries, and continue the trend of being a massive nuisance.

Allies and Enemies

I could go into detail about every hero and why they synergize with/against Dirge, but that encourage people to just listen to others.

What I want you to do, as a DotA 2 player, is to think about what he does(or doesn't do) and what heroes help him do it better (or at all).Venomancer, for example, helps him kill early more efficiently, while

Magnataur, helps him keep an entire team in place.


When facing him, consider silences to stop him from using his monstrous spells.

Disruptor,
Silencer,

andNight Stalker

will help with this, but many others will exploit Dirge's problems and weaknesses.



If you just apply this process to every hero, you'll be a much better player in general.

Item choices

*See build suggestions


As with your allies and enemies, buy items that amplify your strengths such as:
Veil of Discord, which literally increases your magic damage, or fixes your weaknesses,

Mekansm, which solves the low-armor/somewhat solves the burst problem.


However, a little note: avoid items that don't do this effectively - Vanguard is overall a bad item compared to mek, and pipe is much, much more efficient than just a hood, because as the game goes on you become more of a tanky utility hero.

Little tips

Blademail damage is increased by your ultimate
-Tombstone can be healed by soul rip
-Orb of Venom is an incredible laning item
-Be aggressive as all get-out. Dirge rewards this type of play.
-Soul ring is silly, but it can work if you don't have the gold for any of the other items.
-Don't be afraid to leave a fight, regain some hp, and jump back in - overall, this will mean more decays, more amplified damage, and more heals. Be careful when you leave, though, as it may result in the focus fire that just left you wrecking your team
-Smack people with your auto attack in between lasthits
-Tombstone kills trees, use this to freak people out when a fight starts/when you gank to get the jump on them.
-When you get ganked, run around the tombstone like a chicken without a head. Chances are you'll end up getting the kills instead of the gankers.
-Don't solo farm too much mid-game, as you're wasting precious kill-time

Credits

Thanks for reading my guide!
This being my first one, I'll appreciate any and all constructive feedback. Any suggested edits, suggestions, or new combos will be analyzed and edited in if they fit with the style of the guide. All of the links/pictures/sounds are ripped straight off of www.dota2wiki.com, which is a great resource for new and experienced players. Good luck and have fun with your new found knowledge of zombieman!