Death Prophet : a complete guide (6.81)

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my first guide, about Krobelus as know as the Death Prophet. The death prophet is a very nice and versatile hero who can be both played mid, preferably, or in lane and even as a support, for an intelligence ranged hero, she is both a durable, pusher and nuker hero

The Death Prophet will be picked for her strong ability to push and her formidable presence in teamfight with her ultimate that combines well with many other ultimates.
Here i choose to show you 5 decents builds with almost all the playstyles you can have with the Death Prophet.

I hope with this build i will help you as much as can and be able to share you my experience with the Death Prophet, one of the heroes i prefere.

Pros / Cons

Pros :

• Strong nuke early/mid game against heroes and mid/end game against creep
• Strong ultimate against tower and for teamfight
• One of the best silence for teamfight (6 sec aoe for 15 sec cd)
• Very low cd on her first ability
• Very durable hero when she has the item needed and with her ultimate
• Fast movement speed with her passive
• Scary teamfighter

Cons :

• Very mana dependent
• Weak early game, very vulnerable to ganks
• No escape ability
• Item dependent
• Almost always the first focused in teamfight

Skills

Crypt Swarm Sends a swarm of winged beasts to savage enemy units in front of Death Prophet.
Ability: Target Point
Affects: Enemy Units
Damage : Magical : 100 / 175 / 250 / 300
Radius : 110 growing to 300
Distance : 810 (Can hit units up to 1110 range away)
Cast Range : 600
Cast point : 0.5 sec
CD : 8 sec
Mana : 105 120 140 165

Blocked by Magic Immunity

Where did the Crypt Swarm can hit ?

How to use this spell ?

You will use the Crypt Swarm too farm and push the lane, don't use it (as for all the other aoe damage spell) early game, because you don't want to push the lane and become vulnerable to the ganks but you can use it too harass or last hit only when you are sure you will not push the lane by doing this, this spell is a powerful nuke very useful against a lot of mid laner (but useless against some heroe like templar assassin or puck who will easily dodge it).
The main tip is to don't target anyone (creeps or heroes) when casting the spell, you always should target a point between you and the max cast range (600) and with a little practice you have "see" where the spell will go. This spell is useful in teamfight and more enemy you will hit more deadly you will be.

When level up Crypt Swarm : this is your main nuke so this is the spell you will max first, you will take it preferably at level 1, 3, 5 and 7 to have a max damage potential early game.

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Silence Prevents enemy units in a target area from casting spells.
Ability: Target Point
Affects: Enemy Units
Duration : 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
Radius : 425
Cast Range : 900
Cast point : 0.5 sec
CD : 15 sec
Mana : 80

Blocked by Magic Immunity.
Can be purged.


This spell is one of the most powerful silence in teamfight, with a 15 sec of cooldown it has the same effect of the silencer ultimate if you can silence all the enemy heroes at the same times, the silence is easy to cast but i requieres some practice to silence a maximum amount of enemies. Always initiate with this spell and focus the main nuker and disabler : enigma, faceless void, magnus, doom, batrider, puck... Also this spell is a good counter to brewmaster who will never put his ultimate if he blinks in front of you.

When level up Silence : it depends on the situation sometimes you will need it at level 4 to prevent ganks, it could be useful if you are laning against aggressive heroes that can stun you or your ally. Most of the time, when you are playing mid you will only take it at level 10 then 12, 13, 14, because you will only really need it to teamfight. Anyway be carefull, when you reach the level 4/5 this is the time when the others supports can rotate to gank you and the silence can save you at this time.

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Witchcraft Increases the potency of Death Prophet's spells, while providing a passive movement speed boost. Reduces mana costs and cooldowns of Crypt Swarm and Silence, and adds additional spirits to Exorcism.

Ability: Passive
Affects: Self
Movement Speed Bonus: 5% / 10% / 15% / 20%
Mana Cost Decrease: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25
Cooldown Decrease: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Bonus Exorcism Spirits: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Very good passive for the death prophet : at lvl 16 she has +20% movement speed, Crypt Swarm cost 140 mana for 6 sec of cd, Silence cost 55 mana for 11 sec of cd and Exorcism cost 375 mana for 111 sec of cd and 27 spirit ; with the classic mid build it gives you at the level 6 6 spirit (instead of 4) and at the level 11 it gives you 16 spirits instead of 12. This is a really strong passive and you need it a lot.

When level up Witchcraft : almost always at level 2, 4, 8, 9 first because you need the spirit bonuses, second because you need the cooldown decreases and third because you need the movement speed increases. This ability is in my opinion more interesting to level up than the silence (exception in some cases) or the stats because it makes you more dangerous early game.

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Exorcism Unleashes evil spirits to drain the life of nearby enemy units and structures. At the end of the spell's duration, Death Prophet is healed in proportion to the damage dealt.
Ability: No target
Affects: Enemy Units and buildings
Damage: Physical
Spirits: 4 / 12 / 21
Spirit Damage: 53-58
Life Drain: 25%
Duration: 30 sec
Radius: 700
CD : 115 sec
Mana : 200 300 400

Spirit damage is not reduced by Damage Block


When using the ultimate, the spirit will only deal damage to the enemy you target so try to don't auto focus the wrong hero instead on the one you want dead faster, also you only have 30 sec so don't cast it too much early before and try to cast it before the enemy heroes disable you (like doom bringer, Silencer, Enigma, Faceless Void...) This ultimate works perfectly with others skills like Black Hole, Chronosphere, Fatal Bonds, Stone Gaze and Power Cogs. About the Chronosphere and the Black Hole : Death Prophet is a good hero to play with Enigma/ Faceless Void or against because in those 2 cases if you can cast your ultimate before they ult you will deal a ton of damage to the enemy team even if Enigma and Faceless Void are playing against you.

Items

The Death Prophet need 3 things to be effective :
[*] Mana regeneration
[*] Durability (because she will be the first targeted hero and because to be effective with your ultimate you need to tank)
[*] Control (not because she need it more than the other heroes but because you always need to have a lot of control in your team and because she don't have any slow or stun and this will make her ultimate more powerful)

The most important aspect is the mana, the second is the durability and the third is the control (because this is not the Death Prophet's job to have control, your team should have this instead of you, you are the damage dealer and the tank)

1. The best, the beautiful Bloodstone :
+500 HP
+400 Mana
+9 HP/sec Regeneration
+200% Mana Regeneration
+10 Damage

Passive: Bloodpact - Starts with 8 charges. Bloodstone gains an additional charge each time an enemy hero dies within a 1675 AoE. Each charge gives 1 Mana/sec Regeneration, reduces gold lost on death by 25, and reduces respawn time by 4 seconds. Can be activated to instantly kill yourself.

When the bearer dies, Bloodpact restores 500 HP + 30 HP per charge to allied units in 1675 range, and Bloodstone loses a third of its charges (rounded down). While dead, the bearer gains 1800/1800 AoE vision at the location of death, and gains experience in 1000 AoE at that location.

The bloodstone is the best, and the most build, item for the Death Prophet, it gives you the mana regeneration and the durability you truly need, also it grants you a gold lost and respawn time reduction (who don't loves instant respawn ?). This is the most common item on Death Prophet, it gives you 70% winrate when you build it (for example dagon 5 on nyx gives the same amount of winrate according to dotabuff) so you will have to build it right after have bought the mana boots.

To build the bloodstone you first have to buy Perseverance right after the mana boots, then you buy a Point Booster and a Vitality Booster and then you disassemble your mana boots to take the Energy Booster. With the Boots of Speed you will be able to buy the Boots of Travel if you are rich or the Phase Boots if you are not. In some other situations you will prefer to buy the perseverance last to have more health instead or regen.

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2. The cheapest one, Eul's Scepter of Divinity

+10 Intelligence
+150% Mana Regeneration
+40 Movement Speed

Active: Cyclone - Sweeps the target unit up in a cyclone, rendering it invulnerable but unable to act for 2.5 seconds.Deals 50 damage to enemies after landing.

Range: 700

The movement speed bonus does not stack with other Scepters of Divinity.

Mana : 75 CD : 23

Spoiler: Click to view

Cannot cast on allies.
50 Damage dealt when enemy lands.
Does not damage self.
Can cast on self even when magic immune.
Will purge certain things, like dust of appearance.
Meat Hook can stop the cyclone and pull the unit without damaging them.

The Eul's Scepter of Divinity is more and more built nowadays, first because it gives to the Death Prophet the mana regen, the move speed and the control she really needs. Someones prefer to build it first instead of the Bloodstone (cheaper and more useful for its price it helps to have an advantage early game that Bloodstone doesn't give as quickly). Also you can deal damage with your ultimate while your are on the cyclone. Personally i prefer the Bloodstone for the durability it gives but when you have a lack of control in your team the Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a lot better. Also it will inevitably replace the bloodstone if you can't farm and gank at the laning phase.

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3. The boots : Phase Boots or Boots of Travel

(Flat movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.)

3.a. Phase Boots
+50 Movement Speed
+24 Damage

Active: Phase - Increases your movement speed by 16% for 4 seconds and lets you move through other units. Using items or abilities will cause the effect to end prematurely.

Spoiler: Click to view

Using items or abilities cancels Phase.
Activating this item will not break channeling abilities.
Activating this Item will allow you to walk through Shadow Shaman's Serpent Wards.

3.b Boots of Travel
+100 Movement Speed

Active: Teleport - Teleports you to an allied non-hero unit or structure after 3 seconds. While channeling, you gain 200 AoE vision on the target and a visible ping will appear on your allies' minimaps.

Boots of Travel shares cooldown and channeling time with Scroll of Town Portal. Double-clicking on Boots of Travel will automatically teleport you to your fountain.

Spoiler: Click to view

Will automatically target your Fountain if double clicked.
On teleport, trees are destroyed around the target area.
Shares cooldown with Town Portal Scroll.
Using Wind Walk based abilities (Vendetta, Skeleton Walk, Shadow Walk, and Shadow Blade), along with certain others (e.g. Sprint) will not cancel the channeling from this item.
Shadow Amulet only interrupts the channeling if you selected your destination via mini-map clicking or double clicking the Boots.
Will not remove the effect of Ghost Scepter or Decrepify.
Prioritizes: nearby structures first within 325 AoE from targeting position (when ground targeted).

You will build one of those two boots after the Bloodstone as always if you don't have enough farm, you can't buy the Boots of Travel so at this point there is no choice for you. But if you have enough what does the Boots of Travel give you more for the price ? First : the map presence, you will quickly push every lanes everywhere you want and this will gives you a lot of farm. Second : the move speed, always useful to chase or to escape a gank or a lost teamfight. Third : with the Bloodstone you have almost an instant respawn with the Boots of Travel you will be able to join again you team very fast. So if you have enought to buy the travel, even for its big price, buy it.

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4. Next objective : become a real tank Heart of Tarrasque / Shiva's Guard /

As i said, the more important thing the Death Prophet needs is durability because you are the first focused and because you need to be inside the fight to be effective. When you want to be durable the choice of the first item you will build after Bloodstone depends on what you prefer to play with : the Heart of Tarrasque gives you more hp and more regen while the Shiva's Guard gives you damage reduction (with the defense) and a aoe slow that fit really well with your ultimate. I prefer to build Heart of Tarrasque first but this is only my personal choice and Shiva's Guard is quite good too.

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5. Late game : more control against the enemy Eye of Skadi / Scythe of Vyse

The Scythe of Vyse and the Eye of Skadi gives u both a good slow : skadi at each auto-attack (really nice with your ultimate as i said before) and the speed of the hexxed hero is reduced. I prefer build the Scythe of Vyse just after the Heart of Tarrasque because when the late game arrives the Death Prophet is really vulnerable to the enemy carry and the hex is the item she needs to be safe for the late game, but the eye of skady still viable for the stats it gives.

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6. Situational : Ghost Scepter / Black King Bar / Linken's Sphere

As always in Dota 2 there is not one build you have to do everytimes without thinking, you always need to adapt build, your skill order... and that's why sometimes you will have to build one of those 3 items.
The Ghost Scepter prevent every physical damage this can save you if you have somme problem with a Sniper, a Drow Ranger, or any other hard carry that kills you really fast.
The Black King Bar gives a magical immunity and if there is a lot of nuker/disabler in the enemy team maybe you will want it.
Linken's Sphere : i never built Linken's Sphere on the Death Prophet but it can be worth in two cases : against a powerfull nuker or a good disabler with targeted spell ( Lina with Aghanim's Scepter, Ogre Magi, Spirit Breaker, Vengeful Spirit, Wraith King], also it is a good option to build it when you want to be the support of your hard carry, not because the Linken's Sphere will protect you but because you will use the Linken's Sphere to protect your main carry.

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7. The push strat : Necronomicon / Refresher Orb

Those two items are not the best for the Death Prophet but the Necronomicon is not a bad item to build for any hero for the push and the mana burn it gives. The refresher orb is not bad too but it cost a lot and maybe you will prefer and other item like hearth of tarrasque, but in the case you want to become a stronger pusher this item is the best.

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8. The troll build : Shadow Blade/dagon

I hate to see Death Prophet played like that in pubs game, i never played Death Prophet with the invisibility but i guess it could be fun to play with a full team of friend with a build like this one. After the Shadow Blade and the dagon maybe you will need some control : here the Rod of Atos for more hp and the slow or the [scythe of vyse]] for th hex and the slow are both good. Anyway don't build shadow blade in pub game or high/very high ranked games : the dust will kill you every times.

The Death Prophet's laning roles

The mid lane : This is the main early game role for the Death Prophet, you have to take the more last hit you can, to take every runes for your bottle, to harass a lot with Crypt Swarm, always be careful to the smoke gank from the enemy support and to not push the lane too much and become vulnerable. When you hit the level 6 you have two option : push the lane and destroy the tower or gank the hard lane, give kills to your team and push the hard lane. Here i recommend you to go gank this is best thing you can do for your team as at the level 6 you are not able to destroy towers being alone, even with the ultimate.

The safe lane : On this lane there is two job for you : support or carry if you are in dual lane and if this is a trilane you just have to be the support. When you play the carry, last hit and try to kill your opponents if you play the support you have to ward, deward, pull, and harass your opponent(s) as every support do.

The hard lane : this is not a job for you, the silence is not enough to escape if the enemy trilane tries to kill you.

The end

This is the actual end of my guide, this is not a perfect guide and it is possible there is some mistakes insides or some points you will not agree with. If you have any criticism, suggestion or any comments do not hesitate to share them.

This is possible i had some part to this guide or modify some things according to the futures updates and changes on this hero.

I hope this guide has helped you and i hope you would take just as much fun as i to play this hero.