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Shadow Demon (also known as SD) is one of the most picked supports in the current meta for offensive purposes: personally he's my favourite support, and with his skill arsenal he can change the tides of a fight even if underfarmed or without items.
In this guide I'll talk about the competitive way to play him, so don't expect tips for a dual support-carry safe lane.
Pros
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Cons
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This skill by itself is not very useful unless you're going for a lvl 1 kill, but it synergizes amazingly well with your other abilities and your teammates'. If you are going for a lvl 1 kill, always make sure your teammates have strong but hard-to-land stuns ( Split Earth or Light Strike Array maybe?) and that the enemy can't escape before getting killed. Disruption pairs well with your Soul Catcher, use them in sequence to maximize your usefulness. If you disrupt an enemy Hero with an orb effect or a particular aura (such as Mana Break, the orb from Diffusal Blade or the aura from Radiance) your illusions will gain their benefits. You can imput commands to the illusions: if you want, you could disrupt an enemy and then target another one with the illusions (especially useful if you disrupted someone with an orb/aura). Use this ability for defensive purposes, too! Always disrupt a friendly Hero in the middle of a fight before rescuing him. You can disrupt friendly Heroes to make them dodge stuns, too. When you reach the later stages of the game you might want to disrupt your team's carry and let the illusions damage the enemy buildings. You can activate both Soul Catcher and Shadow Poison on a disrupted enemy. |
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This AoE target point spell is the reason why Shadow Demon is picked and banned so often: even a 20% damage increase at level 1 means 1/5 less health for the catched enemy. Always aim your Soul Catcher so that you won't target enemy creeps: this is a common mistake that many unexperienced players do. Most of the time, you have to land it so that a small part of the edge of the area-of-effect is on the Dirsupted enemy. Combine this skill with your Disruption to make the illusions deal more damage and to let your teammates surround the enemy. If there are enemy creeps nearby that make you unable to land a proper Soul Catcher, just don't use it. Wait for the enemy to run away and when he's far from the creeps let your teammates slow him (or simply use your Demonic Purge) and then activate it. |
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This ability very good for scouting purposes, especially when dewarding or when ganing vision of Roshan's pit from a safe distance. If you are going to max out this skill first, make sure you have some items for mana regeneration: in the early game its mana cost is not negligible, after a Disruption + Soul Catcher combo and some Shadow Poison spam your mana might be really low. You can stack multiple istances of this spell to increase its damage esponentially until the fifth stack: any istance after it will add 50 additional damage. That's a lot, since you can potentially do 1040 magical damage with five stacks when this skill is level 4! Use this ability to scout narrow paths and high grounds, especially while dewarding to check for enemy Wards. When you reach the late game you can solo push effectively with 3-4 stacks of Shadow Poison, but don't do so if all your enemies are alive. You can stack multiple istances of Shadow Poison even if the enemy is disrupted. |
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Talking about pubs, this skill is sooo underrated: it may look like a "buffed" version of Venomancer's Venomous Gale without damage over time, but it isn't. You can obviously use this to slow down an enemy that tries to run away: its enormous cast range of 800 makes it very easy to land. Also, as the name suggests, this spell purges an enemy: if the enemy carry has something like Bloodlust or Guardian Angel just purge those abilities. Plus, although you can't purge skills such as God's Strength or Shallow Grave, you will still slow the enemy down. One thing about this skill that is usually overlooked is the final damage: 400 damage may not seem so much, but it can really work as a killing blow against Heroes with an escape mechanism ( Anti-Mage, I'm talking about you) or players that teleported to base just in time. Thanks to this skill, Shadow Demon is a viable counter to melee carries that need to get into close range to dish out their damage like Lifestealer or Sven. |
This is the cookie-cutter playing style of Shadow Demon: you'll (almost) always see competitive SD players use this kind of build. As this Hero doesn't need any items besides Boots to go well, this is the most suitable playing style for a serious team.
You might want to know the most common warding spots and to improve your map awareness (so you will use your TP scroll wisely) before trying this, that's why I consider this build for intermediate to competitive players.
But, if you are new to this hard-supporting role don't be afraid to try this Hero: Shadow Demon is one of the best hard supports for beginners as he will let you get both easy counterwarding capabilities (thanks to his scouting Shadow Poison) and gold from assists. In a few matches you'll become a ganking and warding master!
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Buy both an Animal Courier and a pair of Observer Wards and let your other support buy Sentry Wards (and Smoke if you're playing in a trilane). You might want to give a Ward to your offlane Hero to let him ward the creep pulling camp, if he's versus a strong lane.
Always buy some sort of regeneration items: one set of Tangos doesn't cost too much and gives good sustainability even if you get damaged while healing yourself; you can use it to break trees and scout for hidden Wards that block your creep pulling camp, if needed. The Clarity is there because, after one or two early gank attempts, your mana will be pretty low and the Healing Salve can save your life if you're running away or can be used on your laning partner(s). |
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If one of your team's supports has already bought Courier and Wards, you can go for these items: they're basically the same, but you spend the initial 300 gold for something else.
If you are in the safe lane remember not to place your Sentry Wards before the game starts, as the enemies might have blocked your creep pulling camp: if so, place a Sentry in a place that doesn't obstruct the creep camp and you might spot it. |
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Wards. Yes, Wards. That 150-200 gold is a minimal cost even for a Hero that doesn't kill a single creep in the whole laning phase, and it's surely worth it: you ward a place behind some trees, see the enemy Pudge coming for a gank and... Boom! He gets Disrupted and chainstunned. A 150 gold item for a ~500 gold (divided between the firendly Heroes that got kills and assists) kill. For the same reason, you can use a 200 gold item to avoid more than one ~500 gold kill for the enemy. |
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The first item you're going to buy is a pair of Boots of Speed so that you will waste less time warding and you will be able to chase more effectively. You should reach 450 gold in a relatively small amount of time, especially if getting assists in an aggressive trilane.
Now pick Observer Wards until they're out of stock and try to counterward with occasional Sentry Wards. Don't misunderstand, counterwarding is crucial for a good early game, but your team mainly needs Observers. Also, always carry a Town Portal Scroll with you and be ready to teleport if a tower is under attack, you'll almost always get a kill. Then, focus on finishing your first utility item: you should almost always go for an Urn of Shadows unless there's a Hero that needs the Urn more than you do or your team's strategy involves getting early Roshan kills; in this case, the active from the Medallion of Courage will come in handy. Don't buy both. |
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If your carry is free farming and you can go to gank other lanes, in the early game you can use a Smoke of Deceit on you and the other lane support and gank the enemy mid or solo laner: if ganking mid, a kill is almost always ensured if your mid laner helps both of you. You might end up destroying the enemy tower straight after it, too. |
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This is always needed when there are invisible enemy Heroes: sometimes it's better than using a Sentry Ward, but don't oversetimate it as it's easily counterable in the mid-late game ( Manta Style and Diffusal Blade, for example, can purge the "debuff" from the dust). A must-have if you're going to destroy (or you already have destroyed) a tower. |
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Again, never forget about Wards. The more Wards you have, the more you are useful for your team: if you have, for example, a Force Staff you may save yourself from a Tiny that has just killed your teammate, but with an Observer Ward both of you would have stood alive, maybe you could have even got him killed. |
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Which boots should you use? Most of the time Tranquil Boots should be your first priority because they make ganks so much easier, but if you're struggling for mana or you're already in the mid game you might want to finish a pair of Arcane Boots for self-sustainability. Summarizing, the extra HP regen and armor increase make Tranquil Boots more appealing and useful in the ganking phase, but if you're playing a dual lane or if you're not going to gank other lanes it's better to pick up the Arcane Boots, especially if getting some early farm. |
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This item is not very common on Shadow Demon players but can make the difference, especially if you went really well in the early game. Plus, you can make your "Dirsupt rescue" very effective if you push your teammate (or yourself) towards your base after trapping him (or you) inside your spell. Remember, only buy this if you played really well in the laning stage. |
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More like a situational item, you can buy this if you feel your mana regeneration is very poor and if you have a lot of money: it's less useful than the other items but I find the active ability very convenient for two purposes: first, you can affect three enemies at once (Eul's active ability + Disruption + Demonic Purge); secondly you can gain even more time if you cyclone yourself into the air before disrupt-rescuing yourself. |
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This is the ultimate initiation item: as it doesn't have a cost anymore (it used to be 75 mana) your (relatively) small mana pool doesn't prevent you from getting mobility items. If you're snowballing and have hundreds of gold, consider getting this item to make ganks - especially with a good ganker like Nyx Assassin or Clinkz - much easier and more surprising. |
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Obviously, pick this item against those invisible Heroes that can be very succesful if not stopped ( Riki, Bounty Hunter, Clinkz...): you might want to give the Gem to your team's utility Hero (may it be the mid or solo laner) because you'll be one of the first Heroes to be focused in teamfights. |
Sometimes, when you're playing with another support that most likely won't buy a Mekansm such as Nyx Assassin, a supportish Sven or a Tidehunter you have to do so: considering that your lane will probably be getting kills you should be able to finish it in a little amount of time.
This skill build is suitable for any kind of players, from the beginners to the professionals; remember anyway that you should actively use your TP Scroll, so a bit of map awareness is required.
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This is a common starting if you have to take both Observer Wards and an Animal Courier, which should never miss in a match: make sure the other support has boght Sentry Wards so that you can remove Wards obstructing your creep pulling camp or watching the rune spots.
A Tango and a Healing Salve are always useful: as Shadow Demon doesn't have much health they work very well on him. Consider giving some Tango charges to the mid/carry if they need to rush something (like a Bottle or a Hand of Midas). A Clarity potion is never a waste for supports: even if you won't need it, you can still use it on a friendly Hero. 50 gold is still very easy to recover. |
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If one of your team's supports has already bought an Animal Courier, you can go for these items: you won't buy those Observer Wards that always come in handy, but you have the possibility to watch for enemy Wards and destroy them. Also, make sure your support has bought Observer Wards at the beginning of the game! Consider delaying your Sentries if he didn't.
If you are in the safe lane remember not to place your Sentry Wards before the game starts, as the enemies might have blocked your creep pulling camp: if so, place a Sentry in a place that doesn't obstruct the creep camp and you might spot it. |
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You could call this a " Mekansm rush": Flying Courier, plain Boots and then a Buckler. Remember to always buy it before the Headdress because the armor increase and active ability are much more useful for soaking up damage and counterpushing, respectively.
Talking about the Boots of Speed, they should always be your first priority: more movement speed means better chasing capabilities which translates into getting kills that you wouldn't have got without the movement speed increase. Town Portal Scrolls? Always keep one in your inventory, you never know when you have to teleport to defend a tower. Also, they make ganks much easier if you teleport to another lane. |
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If your carry is free farming and you can go to gank other lanes, in the early game you can use a Smoke of Deceit on you and the other lane support and gank the enemy mid or solo laner: if ganking mid, a kill is almost always ensured if your mid laner helps both of you. You might end up destroying the enemy tower straight after it, too. |
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This is always needed when there are invisible enemy Heroes: sometimes it's better than using a Sentry Ward, but don't oversetimate it as it's easily counterable in the mid-late game ( Manta Style and Diffusal Blade, for example, can purge the "debuff" from the dust). A must-have if you're going to destroy (or you already have destroyed) a tower. |
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Which boots should you buy? Most of the time Arcane Boots should be your first priority, but if your team already has two pairs of Arcanes and/or there's a Crystal Maiden or a Keeper of the Light you might want to go for Phase Boots as long as you can sustain your mana. Summarizing, the mana pool increase and its active make Arcane Boots more appealing and useful in many situations, but you might want to pick Phase Boots if you feel you don't have problems with mana. |
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This item is not very common on Shadow Demon players but can make the difference, especially if you went really well in the early game. Plus, you can make your "Dirsupt rescue" very effective if you push your teammate (or yourself) towards your base after trapping him (or you) inside your spell. Remember, only buy this if you played really well in the laning stage. |
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More like a situational item, you can buy this if you feel your mana regeneration is very poor and if you have a lot of money: it's less useful than the other items but I find the active ability very convenient for two purposes: first, you can affect three enemies at once (Eul's active ability + Disruption + Demonic Purge); secondly you can gain even more time if you cyclone yourself into the air before disrupt-rescuing yourself. |
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This is the ultimate initiation item: as it doesn't have a cost anymore (it used to be 75 mana) your (relatively) small mana pool doesn't prevent you from getting mobility items. If you're snowballing and have hundreds of gold, consider getting this item to make ganks - especially with a good ganker like Nyx Assassin or Clinkz - much easier and more surprising. |
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Obviously, pick this item against those invisible Heroes that can be very succesful if not stopped ( Riki, Bounty Hunter, Clinkz...): you might want to give the Gem to your team's utility Hero (may it be the mid or solo laner) because you'll be one of the first Heroes to be focused in teamfights. |
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I don't usually recommend this item, unless you are switching into a semi-support role because you got a lot of farm or your team is simply stomping the enemies: this item can be treated like a second Demonic Purge when you don't want to waste your ultimate and its cooldown. |
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Same as above, this is not an item for supports but I find myself buying this in many situations: it grants you some attack speed and damage, but the silence is what you're really looking for. Only buy this if there is an enemy Hero that you can't really kill without silencing ( Weaver, Anti-Mage, Mirana and so on) and you don't want to invest your gold on a Scythe of Vyse because you need autoattacks more than stats. Lastly, remember that the enemy gets silenced for 5 seconds, which is a very big number: if you can Disrupt + Soul Catch an enemy Hero, a silence will ensure that he gets killed. |
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A support Hero has to buy items for his team, so why don't you get a cheap aura that scales into late game like Vladmir's Offering? In organized matches carries usually skip it to buy DPS or durability items, so you can think about this if your team counts 2-3 melee Heroes. Don't buy this item if another Hero in your team already has one or you'll waste 2050 gold. |
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Obviously, this item is made to counter heavy-nuking teams and Heroes (some examples are Tinker, Zeus and Nyx Assassin). When you reach late game against those kind of Heroes there must be one Pipe of Insight in your team. Use the active ability very wisely, as it lasts for 10 seconds only. On the other side, though, don't forget to activate it! I always like to buy this a Pipe because of the enormous HP regeneration it gives: 3628 gold for this item is well spent. |
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I rarely see a Necronomicon picked up by a Shadow Demon player, but it clearly gives stats that can do nothing but benefit this Hero: the intelligence enlarges your mana pool and damage while the strength makes you more durable. You can use the little warriors for pushing purposes; also, consider upgrading this item into level 3 if you want true sight against invisible enemies. Never forget about the ability of your Necronomicon Archer, Mana Burn, which can remove up to 225 mana from a target unit! |
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These boots are a good late game choice for many Heroes and Shadow Demon, which can push effectively with multiple stacks of Shadow Poison, is no exception: the movement speed increase is useful, too. These boots are especially good for lane pushing as you can teleport in a lane and quickly start stacking your poison and killing creeps. |
In the laning stage Shadow Demon is simply a trilane support that grants a good initiation to get a kill, but he becomes an awesome disabler in teamfights: this Hero can single-handedly turn a teamfight in your favor Disrupting the enemy initiator while casting Demonic Purge and Soul Catcher on the carry.
This chapter will be divided in the following paragraphs to let you understand better:
This build has been published in the new Steam Community "guides" section: vote it from here if you want to see it in game!
2-2-2014: Edited the starting items and some mid-game items.
2-12-2013: Added situational items.
2-7-2013: Added Kunkka between Shadow Demon's friends.
2-6-2013: Added the "Playing Style" chapter.
2-5-2013: Wrote the first part of the guide.
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