Greed is Good - A guide to Alchemist

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to my guide to Alchemist. Alchemist is a Strength Melee Carry hero who is known for relatively easy farming thanks to Greevil's Greed. He is one of my favorite carries in the game and he used to be really good during TI3 which was the reason why a lot of teams picked him during the drafting.

He isn't being picked a lot in Tournaments again because he was nerfed after TI3.

Pros / Cons

Alchemist's Pros

+ Can farm very fast if in the right hands
+ Decent base starting damage
+ Can still farm even if You lose Your towers
+ Chemical Rage at Level 3 makes him nearly as fast as Ursa's Overpower
+ Can defend and push towers using Acid Spray

Alchemist's Cons

- Gets weaker late game due to Hard-Carries
- Unstable Concoction can be a disaster if not used correctly
- No escape mechanism
- Low starting agility and low agility gain

Skills

Acid Spray is a skill You can use to defend Your own towers and farm creeps on the lane faster, farm the jungle, pressure the enemy tower and even deal more damage in team fights. The armor reduction of this skill is more useful in team fights than the damage however.




Unstable Concoction is Alchemist's main stun during the whole game. This skill can be used to chase, gank, escape and even initiate a team fight. This is going to be Your best shot (no puns intended) of getting kills in the early game to get more experience and gold. Be careful how You use it, because if Your opponents silence, disable or stun You, Unstable Concoction can backfire if the time runs out and You can end up blowing up Your own ***, giving a free kill to the enemy team. You can also use this skill to deny Yourself.





Greevil's Greed is what makes Alchemist one of the fastest farmers in the game. This is going to be Your best way of earning gold during the whole game. We focus on leveling this skill first so we can farm in the early game faster and get our Core Items faster.





Chemical Rage is one of the best skills a carry can get. It increases Your Health Regeneration, Mana Regeneration, Movement Speed and Attack Speed! Its also got a fairly low cooldown so don't hesitate to abuse it when You are low on Mana or Health as You will gain back more than You had before using the skill. It lasts 25 seconds and the cooldown is 45 seconds, meaning its real cooldown is 20 seconds since it is active for 25 seconds unless You die.

Skill Build Explanation

So why not go for Acid Spray first instead of Greevil's Greed?

Because You want to be farming early in the game as fast as possible. Alchemist is supposed to farm early in the game using Greevil's Greed and get his Core Items as fast as possible. After that we level Unstable Concoction to increase our stun duration and damage. We use this skill whenever we plan on getting a kill. After maxing out this skill, we level the last skill remaining, Acid Spray. We use this skill to push the lanes, defend our towers and attack enemy towers, and to farm the jungle.

Why isn't Greevil's Greed taken at level 1 then?

If You take Greevil's Greed at level 1 You will have to focus on last hitting every creep on Your lane to get as much gold as possible, and Your only way of killing an enemy would be attacking him. You can go for level 1 Greevil's Greed if You and Your allies are not going to try to gank anyone on Your lane at level 1. If You are planning to gank someone on Your lane at level 1, then take Unstable Concoction at level 1 for the stun and damage. Just try not to mess up or it can cost You and Your allies a lot.

Acid Spray isn't really useful early game because it costs a lot of Mana and doesn't always end up getting the last hit on a creep so it isn't reliable a lot on farming until You skill it to level 3 or level 4. The Armor Reduction is however really good in team fights.

Chemical Rage is taken whenever possible because without this skill Alchemist isn't as strong as how he should be, and taking this skill eliminates the need of buying too much Regeneration Items, while it also increases his Attack Speed and Movement Speed.

Item Build

Starting Items (with babysitter)

These are the Items You should buy when You start if You are going to be supported by someone that can heal You. Ring of Protection is bought to reduce the damage You receive if You are getting harassed by the enemy while Quelling Blade is taken for easier last hitting. You should request two Tango (Shared) from the support that's going to be laning with You. Spend the remaining gold on 2 Iron Branches. You are now 6 slotted so You can't get the last Iron Branch due to the Tango (Shared), but that isn't a problem.

Total Gold Required: 500 Gold (not counting pre-purchased Items)

Starting Items (without babysitter)

You should take these Items if Your supports don't want to give You 2 Tango (Shared) or You don't have any supports on the team. The Tango and Healing Salve are You main way of healing since You have no one to support You on the lane. The Quelling Blade is taken to help You with last hitting, while the three Iron Branches are taken to improve Your stats in the beginning and will be turned into a Magic Wand later in the game.

Total Gold Required: 615 Gold (not counting pre-purchased Items)

Early-Game Items

It doesn't matter which build You used, these should be Your Early-Game Items. The Iron Branches are turned into a Magic Wand. The Ring of Protection is turned into a Ring of Basilius for better Mana Regeneration. You make a Hand of Midas for better farming and to gain more experience. You can go for Power Treads on Alchemist but I prefer Phase Boots as they allow You to chase an enemy and also escape from an enemy, while the damage combined with Your Chemical Rage is also great. The Quelling Blade is still here from the starting Items to make farming a little more faster.

Total Gold Required: 4625 Gold (not counting pre-purchased Items)

The Core

Your Core might seem a little too costly but You have Greevil's Greed and a Hand of Midas. To get Your Core Items fast, simply don't die Early-Game, try to get a kill together with an ally against a squishy enemy hero on Your lane, farm the jungle and farm Your lane. The Core is easy to get if You don't mess up Early-Game, because Greevil's Greed will be helping You a lot. Also, if You have a good Mid-Lane hero that can gank, request a gank from him when he reaches level 6. Getting 2 kills in the early game will be really helpful and can decide if You win the lane or not. Mjollnir is a must on Carry Alchemist and so is Assault Cuirass. Skull Basher is really good because of Your Chemical Rage, while Phase Boots are used for escaping and chasing.

Total Gold Required: 15250 Gold (not counting pre-purchased Items)

Mid-Game Items

By now You should have farmed a lot of gold and also should be finishing Your Core Items. Maelstrom is not going to be upgraded immediately, instead we will make an Assault Cuirass and then go for Skull Basher, which together with Your Chemical Rage is going to deal a lot of damage and have a long stun . You should also keep using that Hand of Midas to get more experience and gold.

Total Gold Required: 14900 Gold (not counting pre-purchased Items)

Late-Game Items

These are the Items You should have during the end of the game if You don't need any of the situational Items. The Skull Basher is upgraded into an Abyssal Blade. Since You have good Attack Speed and Damage by now, a Daedalus is taken to increase Your damage even more and make Your attacks have a chance to be critical, while a Satanic is taken for the survivability and Lifesteal it grants when Mjollnir doesn't activate.

Total Gold Required: 32150 Gold (not counting pre-purchased Items)

Situational Items

• Black King Bar should be taken when the opponent has heroes that can disable, stun, silence or nuke You.
• Divine Rapier should only be taken if Your team needs a lot of DPS or if its the only Item which can give You a chance to win the game, because if You die and the opponent team picks this up while the game is even, You are pretty much screwed unless Your team manages to get it back.
• Monkey King Bar is taken when the opponent has heroes with evasion skills, or skills that can make You miss, some examples are Phantom Assassin with her Blur, Riki with his Smoke Screen, Brewmaster with his Drunken Brawler and Drunken Haze, or if the opponent has a Heaven's Halberd or Butterfly.
• Radiance can be taken if You are free farming and Your opponents are not stopping You. If You decide to, try to finish it before the 15 Minutes Mark.
• Shadow Blade is a good Item to use as an escape mechanism if You need it, since You don't have one, or if You want to position Yourself to use Unstable Concoction. The Damage and the Increased Attack Speed it offers are also good.
• Heart of Tarrasque isn't really that effective, I find Satanic superior on Alchemist because of his high Attack Speed. The only reason You might go for Heart of Tarrasque should be if You need a lot of Health and Health Regeneration.
• Heaven's Halberd can be taken if You need a little more survivability and You are playing against a hero with high Attack Speed and high Damage.
• Butterfly should be taken if You need an Item that gives You damage but also gives You a high chance of dodging an attack.
• Blade Mail is only taken when the opponent has a Phantom Assassin, Huskar or any other hero that has high DPS and high Attack Speed.

Gameplay

Early-Game

During the Early-Game You should be last hitting creeps and farming, while trying not to die. Stay with Your laning partner if he is a support and try to gank with him if he has a good nuke or stun, all You have to do is harass the enemy a little, then use Your stuns and start attacking him to get a kill. Choose the more squishy enemy, not the harder one. When Your Mid-Hero gets to level 6, request a gank from him to Your lane.

Mid-Game

By now, You should have a Hand of Midas to increase Your gold and experience gain and You should start farming the lanes and the jungle for more gold. You can try to push some towers with Your allies but try to get some gold for Your Core Items. After You do so, pressure all the lanes that You can and don't let the enemy Carry farm creeps because if they have a Hard-Carry, then You can get outcarried Late-Game

Late-Game

You should be getting full slotted at this time, and should be well farmed to be effective. If You work together with Your allies correctly then You should be able to start pushing the 3rd Towers and take Barracks.

Friends and Foes

Best allies and friends of Alchemist

Alchemist as a carry needs allies that can heal him, meaning that heroes like Abaddon, Dazzle, Enchantress, Necrophos, Omniknight, Witch Doctor and Warlock are his best allies.
A special mention goes to Keeper of the Light. He can keep restoring Your Mana, so that You can throw Your Unstable Concoction and stun the enemy while he channels his Illuminate which mostly ends up as a kill.
Another special mention goes to Io. If he Tethers You and then uses Overcharge You will have extremely high Attack Speed, bashing everything in front of You while dealing a lot of damage with Mjollnir and regaining a lot of Health with Satanic's Lifesteal when Mjollnir doesn't activate.
Good allies of Alchemist are also heroes that can stun or disable an enemy, such as Bane, Crystal Maiden, Earthshaker, Disruptor, Vengeful Spirit, Shadow Demon and Shadow Shaman.If You combine the stuns or disables from any of these heroes with Unstable Concoction in the Early-Game then You can get a First Blood and usually You will be dominating Your lane. The last special mention here goes to Techies. This might seem a little unusual but if you land your Unstable Concoction then all Techies has to do it go on the Stunned Enemy Hero and use suicide squad, attack!. His Stasis Trap also works well with your Attack Speed considering you have Mjollnir and its Passive activates at least 3 times.

Biggest enemies and foes of Alchemist

doom bringer

Alchemist is countered by heroes that are really Hard-Carries for example Faceless Void, Weaver, Spectre or heroes that have long lasting disables, silences or stuns such as Bane, Puck, Lion, Shadow Shaman, Silencer or Doom bringer . They can silence, stun or disable Alchemist and he can end up stunning and damaging himself with Unstable Concoction. A special mention goes to Lifestealer.
Lifestealer is the biggest enemy of Alchemist. Lifestealer has Feast and because of that Alchemist will lose a lot of his HP if he is being attacked by a Lifestealer since Alchemist is a fairly tanky hero and has a lot of HP.

Last Words

Thanks for reading this guide, please rate and tell me what You think I should change. If You have a question ask it in the comments. This is my first guide here so I hope You liked it. Alchemist himself isn't the best carry, but still he is a pretty good carry. He used to be one of the best carries before the nerf because Chemical Rage gave him HP.
It took me like one day to make this guide and to publish it, considering I created the name only and saved it to see how it looked, but then did not know how to edit the guide. Then after some days I came back to this site and when I was looking at this saved and not published guide I noticed the option Edit, so I continued developing it.

Changelog

September
06.09.2014

August
31.08.2014
28.08.2014
25.08.2014
22.08.2014