Is that Davy Jones?

Introduction

Hi, this is my guide on Dark Seer. After being inspired from guides on this site, from other sites, other people's experiences and mine, I finally decided to make a guide to share to you all on how to win with Dark Seer.

Lore

Fast when he needs to be, and a cunning strategist, Ish'Kafel the Dark Seer requires no edged weapons to vanquish his enemies, relying instead on the strength of his powerful mind. His talent lies in his ability to maneuver the fight to his advantage. Hailing from a place he calls 'The Land behind the wall,' Dark Seer remains an outsider here—a warrior from a realm beyond the veil of this reality.

Once a great general among his people, and a valiant defender of the god-king Damathryx, Dark Seer’s army was wiped out by a much larger force in the final days of the Great Boundaries War. Facing certain defeat, he made one last desperate act: he led the enemy forces into the maze between the walls. At the last moment, just before capture, he crossed over—then sealed the walls forever in an explosive release of dark energy. When the dust settled, he saw that he had saved his people but found himself blinking at the sun of a different world, with no way to return. Now he is committed to proving his worth as a military strategist, and vows to show that he’s the greatest tactician this strange new world has ever seen.

Pros / Cons

Pros:

-Able to fit nearly any role
-Able to harass without the risk of being hit
-Able to farm easily
-Able to farm and do something else at the same time
-Able to last hit quiet easily
-Able to push easily
-Able to save teammates
-Able to chase enemies
-Able to demolish enemies with his AoE skills
-Able to outnumber enemies in team fights
-Able to somewhat carry
-Able to gain lots of kills when not even trying
-Able to look like Davy Jones

Cons:

-Has a melee attacking range
-Has mana problems until you get good mana regen
-Has a need for money to do well
-Has a short 'self stun' when casting spells
-Has a mediocre hit points and mana points

Why play Dark Seer?

To:
-Try a new hero
-Easily win games if you know what to do
-Annoy the **** out of enemy melee heroes
-Sort of carry
-See how a weird hero is effective
-Make sure allies can easily catch up with fleeing enemeis
-Save your team in the time of need
-Farm effectively
-Look somewhat like Davy Jones

Dark Seer is a very flexible hero, made for nearly any situation. With 3 of his spells being AoE, he makes a great asset to nearly any team! That Storm Spirit is running away from you? Just use Surge on an ally and they should be able to chase him down! That noob Sniper getting ganked? No problem, just use Surge on him and let him escape! Being opposed by Axe and Tidehunter? Easy, just apply [[ionshell] on a creep and they will be backing away!

There are many great examples that Dark Seer can be used. He has the ability to set enemies right where your team needs them, ready to be slaughtered. He can even carry so long you get fed. Many reasons to play Dark Seer, so why not try him today?

Skills

The common way of leveling Dark Seer's skills:

> > >

Wall of Replica should be maxed out as soon as you can, though usually you can get away with getting it at level 10 as team fights are not as common before that, and you probably would run into mana problems.

Ion Shell is prioritized as it is your main damaging skill, being used to farm with, and to assist in team fights.

Vacuum is leveled with your W but usually finished after W. It isn't as important when you are farming, and by the time you actually finish it, team fights should be happening more frequently.

Surge is leveled after everything else, but with 1 level of it taken at the start. Basically the 3 seconds of max speed should suffice to chase a fleeing enemy, to help a teammate escape or to even just travel faster to your destination.
Vacuum

In-depth of skills:

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Vacuum

Ability: Target Point

Affects: Enemies

Damage: Magical

Dark Seer creates a vacuum over the target area that sucks in enemy units, disrupting them and dealing damage.

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Level: 1 2 3 4

Mana: 100 130 160 190

Damage: 40 80 120 160

Range: 550 550 550 550

Radius: 275 375 475 575

Cooldown: 16 16 16 16

Notes:

• This ability will interrupt channeling spells and items.
• Drags units over 0.3 seconds.
• Can drag units over cliffs.
• This ability destroys trees in a 275 radius.

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Usage:

Vacuum along with Wall of Replica is your bread and butter in team fights. This skill is very useful in grouping up enemies closely together, making enemies a very easy target for your allies with AoE skills. This may also be used to interrupt enemies, whether they are teleporting, chasing a weak ally, or even channeling a certain spell. If your very good with aiming Vacuum, you may also use it to 'pull back' enemies who run away. This skill may also be used to clear trees for what ever reason.

Usually once the initiator of your team has initiated, or if you are the initiator, you would should be using this skill first to group up some or all of your enemies, be sure to include carries, or other strong fed players. You may choose to apply Ion Shell on allied melee heroes beforehand, but remember to use this first, or Wall of Replica first then using this to create an army of illusions.

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Ion Shell

Ability: Target Unit

Affects: Enemies

Damage: Magical

Surrounds the target unit with a bristling shield that damages enemy units in an area around it.

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Level: 1 2 3 4

Mana: 70 90 110 130

Damage per second: 30 50 70 90

Range: 700 700 700 700

Radius: 250 250 250 250

Cooldown: 10 10 10 10

Notes:

• Doesn't damage the target it is cast on.
• Damage is dealt in smaller amounts every 0.1 second.
• If cast on a unit that already has Ion Shell on it, the new Ion Shell will replace the old one.

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Usage:

Ion Shell can be called, a spiky shell. Despite its name containing the word 'shell', it unfortunately does not provide an armor boost to its wearer. However, Ion Shell does bring in a lot of damage to those caught near it. This skill lasts 20 seconds, and with a short 10 second cooldown, you can apply two of them on a creep wave and just leave because they will do the farming for you! Just beware that the wearer, if an enemy does not take damage, so be careful where you apply it.

You probably want to place this on melee creeps, as it only has a 250 radius, for farming. This skill is very nice as again, you can easily farm with it, easily push lanes and easily harass enemy heroes who get near! Ion Shell is best used on melee units because of its low radius, so be sure to use it on your initiator or a carry who is melee in your team, just before engaging in a team fight simply because the extra damage will help them. Ion Shell synergizes very well with your Vacuum as the enemies are grouped together and they all take damage from Ion Shell.

Heres a little diagram on how you should place it on a creep:

Key:
M = Melee creep
R = Ranged creep
S = Siege creep

S

R

R

M

M

M

-->

In other words, avoid red and go for green most cases, place it on a melee creep that isn't the 'first' one to go into battle. If you do, then it will end up being killed first and you won't be able to farm as much. Again, don't place it on ranged units because they will be further away than the range of Ion Shell.

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Surge

Ability: Target Point

Affects: Allied Units

Damage: N/A

Charges a target friendly unit with power, giving it a brief burst of maximum movement speed.

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Level: 1 2 3 4

Mana: 20 30 40 50

Damage: N/A N/A N/A N/A

Range: 600 600 600 600

Duration: 3 4.5 6 7.5

Cooldown: 12 11 10 9

Notes:

• Slowing effects from spells or items do not affect Surged units.
• Surged unit maintain maximum movement speed for the full duration, unless the Surge buff is removed (by Purge or other spells).

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Usage:

Surge is the saver of ***es, and the kicker of ***es. Use it to help a running teammate escape, or to help that carry chase down the remaining low health enemy. You can find nearly any situation where a burst of max speed would be helpful.

Be sure to use it when you need to, especially during times 'pre-team fight' where both teams are just throwing long range attacks at each other and not engaging. It has a semi low cooldown and a low mana cost. Don't be fooled by its low mana cost, because if you end up spamming this too often, you will experience mana problems. ::captain obvious::

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Wall of Replica

Ability: Target Point

Affects: Enemy Heroes

Damage: Magical

Raises a wall of warping light that damages and creates replicas of any enemy hero who crosses it. Enemy replicas serve at the Dark Seer's will.

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Level: 1 2 3 4

Mana: 200 300 400

Damage: 150 150 150

Range: 500 900 1300

Wall length: 1000 1000 1000

Duration: 15 30 45

Illusion damage dealt: 70% (100%*) 80% (120%*) 90% (140%*)

Illusion damage received: 300 300 300

Cooldown: 100 100 100

Notes:

• When the Wall creates an illusion of an enemy, it deals 150 damage to the affected Hero.
• Illusions are semi-transparent to enemy players.
• Does not create illusions from other illusions or Geomancer copies.
• The wall is created perpendicular to the line between the Dark Seer and the target point.

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Usage:

Wall of Replica is a very strong ultimate. Basically you can turn a battle of 5v5 to even a 10v5, or even 1000v5, if your enemies are dumb enough to cross the wall continuously. This is very effective in team fights and is part of your bread and butter. This skill is very deadly when used in conjunction with spells that 'knock' enemies, as every time they cross through this wall, they create one more trouble they have got to deal with.

Be sure to use it wisely...

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Items

To be done...

Final words

I hope you enjoyed this guide as much as I have enjoyed making it. Be sure to rate it and comment, and post results of you playing Dark Seer. Thanks!

Changelog

2/6/12:
-Added the guide, though still a WIP