Like the Void between stars - Enigma

Introduction

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Good teamfight presence
• Effective Jungler
• Effective Solo Laner
• Good pusher
• High Intelligence gain

Cons

• Pretty squishy
• Usually focused in teamfights
• Spells have high mana cost
• Ultimate has a LONG cooldown

Skills and Abilities

Malefice

Ability: Affects:

Single Target Enemies

Focuses Enigma's power on a target, causing it to take damage and become repeatedly stunned for multiple instances. An instance strikes every 2 seconds.

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Notes:

• Hits the target in 2 second intervals, starting immediately as the debuff is placed, resulting in 3 strikes.

This is Enigma's first skill, Malefice. This skill is mainly used to cancel channelled spells, cancel teleports, or just finish off someone with low health.

Let's say a Pudge is Dismembering your teammate. Cast Malefice on Pudge to cancel his Dismember channel, and save your teammate!

This skill is also great for chasing down enemies, because they will be repeatedly stunned, so you can catch up with them. You can consider this as a "slow".

You can also use this skill in combination with Midnight Pulse, so the enemies will stay in the AoE for a longer time, thus taking more damage. Midnight Pulse will be explained later.

Demonic Conversion

Demonic Conversion

Ability: Affects:

Single Target Creeps

Transforms a creep into three fragments of Enigma himself. These eidolons are all under Enigma's control, and repeated successful attacks cause them to multiply. When this happens, the eidolons have their health restored.

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Notes:

• When the Eidolons multiply, their health is refreshed, but their duration is not refreshed.
• Eidolons can only multiply once. Multiplied Eidolons cannot multiply further.
• Cannot be cast on Ancient creeps or Roshan.
• Can be cast on Siege creeps.

This is what makes Enigma such a good jungler. You can turn a creep into your very own demon children.
If you cast Demonic Conversion on an enemy or neutral creep, you will still gain the gold and exp! You can also use this to deny your own creeps.

Guess what? The Eidolons last as long as the cooldown of the skill. So once your Eidolons expire, you can cast it again and continue farming.
The mana cost of Demonic Conversion is quite high, at 170. This is why you must get lots of Claritys before you jungle.

Midnight Pulse

Ability: Affects:

Point Target Enemies

Covers an area in dark resonance, damaging enemy units based on their max HP.

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Notes:

• Does not affect Ancient creeps, Roshan and Couriers.
• Successive casts of Midnight Pulse on the same area work independently. They fully stack.
• Destroys trees in its area.

Don't you like the name? Midnight Pulse. It sounds so...cool.
Anyway, this is Enigma's third skill. It will cover an area in some dark vortex thing, and any enemies in that area will take periodic damage.

This ability will destroy trees, so you can use it to clear juking paths in the trees.
This skill, in combination with Black Hole, can deal huge damage to enemies.
Also, Midnight Pulse deals PURE damage. So it completely ignores spell resistance!

Black Hole

Ability: Affects:

Point Target Enemies

Summons a vortex that sucks in nearby enemy units. Enemies affected by Black Hole cannot move, attack, or cast spells. The closer units get to the center, the more damage is dealt.

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Notes:

• Can pull units through impassable terrain and through trees.
• Does not affect buildings, wards and siege creeps.
• Magic immune units will be disabled, but they don't take the damage.

Ah, the infamous Black Hole. This is why Enigma has such a good teamfight presence. This is why he is always focused first in teamfights.
Because he can disable an entire team!

This spell has the longest cooldown of any spell in the game. More than 3 minutes. So use it wisely.

But even though it has a long cooldown, you shouldn't be afraid to use it on a single enemy in the early game. If you can guarantee the kill, just use Black Hole on a single enemy, in early game. Don't do this in mid or late game, because you need it for teamfights.

Skill Build

The Jungler

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Level 1-Demonic Conversion Level 2- Malefice Level 3-Demonic Conversion Level 4- Malefice Level 5-Demonic Conversion Level 6- Black Hole Level 7-Demonic Conversion Level 8- Malefice Level 9- Malefice

Level 10- Midnight Pulse Level 11- Black Hole Level 12- Midnight Pulse Level 13- Midnight Pulse Level 14- Midnight Pulse Level 15- Stats Level 16- Black Hole Level 17 Onwards- Stats

You are a jungler, so of course you want to max Demonic Conversion first. Get it at levels 1, 3, 5 and 7. This is to, obviously, make it easier for you to jungle, and you can also use it to push lanes early.

Malefice can't deal any real damage until level 4, which is why you want to max this second. Maxing it first will only waste skill points for Demonic Conversion. So you want to max this as early as possible, but remember to max Demonic Conversion first.

Midnight Pulse is usually left until level 10. Midnight Pulse can be used in conjunction with Black Hole to deal more damage. But it's already so hard to land a good Black Hole. And anyway, the point of using Black Hole is not to deal damage, which is why you should leave Midnight Pulse until level 10. This can be used after Black Hole to deal some residual damage.

Like most heroes, get your ultimate at levels 6, 11 and 16. In some cases though, people like to just leave Black Hole at level 1, because the only thing you actually gain from upgrading it is the damage, which is not even the point of using Black Hole. Yes, 10 seconds of cooldown decrease is nice, but if your team is already dealing enough damage while it's on cooldown then that is not really necessary.
But just to be safe, get it at levels 6, 11 and 16.

Item Build

Starting items for Enigma are very different from other heroes. He needs lots of Claritys because his skills cost a lot of mana. And he needs some sort of mana regeneration, for the same reason.

Starting Items

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You will be jungling. So you don't need items like Iron Branches. Instead, you can spend the gold on an Animal Courier for your team.
Observer Wards are of high priority. You need to ward the entrances of your jungle so you can see any incoming enemies.
I'm not just talking about 1 Clarity here. You need at least 2 Claritys. You want to be able to use Demonic Conversion over and over again. So, get those Claritys.
Sage's Mask is a very good pickup. It gives an additional 50% mana regeneration, which is a lot if you think about it.
Later, craft your Sage's Mask into a Soul Ring

Early Game Items

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Here are a few good early game purchases to help you jungle, and also to help in fights.

You want to get Magic Stick if you are facing a lot of spell casters, such as Lina or Zeus. You are an initiator. Initiators definitely need this.
Boots of Speed will give you that extra movespeed to move in and initiate. This is until you get Blink Dagger.

Now, some of you may be wondering about Ring of Basilius. If you think about it, Ring of Basilius is actually pretty useless. Soul Ring solves your mana problems so much better than Ring of Basilius. 2 armor bonus to your Eidolons? Your Eidolons don't need that armor bonus if you micro manage them properly.
So, don't get Ring of Basilius. Get Soul Ring instead.

Core Items

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Blink Dagger is a core item for every initiator, including you. Try to get this as soon as possible.
Magic Wand ia basically an upgraded version of Magic Stick. Again, get this if you are facing many spell casters.
Now, some of you may be wondering, why Bracer? Because you are an initiator, that's why Bracer. You will always be focused in teamfights. Bracer will let you tank the damage, because you are pretty squishy. Bracer is definitely a must.

Core Extensions

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Black King Bar
Black Hole is a channeled spell. You won't always catch everyone in your Black Hole. There will always be some sneaky stunners that can easily disrupt your channel. So, you have to get Black King Bar. This is also considered a core item on Enigma. This will ensure nobody can stun you and interrupt your channel.

Mekansm
Another core extension. It gives you some extra tankiness, armor and health regeneration. And you can also burst heal your whole team for 250 health!

Situational Items

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Aghanim's Scepter
I wouldn't recommend getting this item. It will add the damage from Midnight Pulse to Black Hole. But dealing damage isn't the point of your ultimate, anyway. The point of Black Hole is to disable enemies and let your team finish them off. So, Aghanim's Scepter is pretty much a waste of 4800 gold.

Refresher Orb
I always get this item on Enigma, because 3 minutes of cooldown is simply way too long. This item will come in handy if you failed to cast Black Hole properly, or if an unexpected teamfight breaks out.

Scythe of Vyse
This item can give you all the mana regeneration you could ever want. Also, you can turn enemies into a goat. Isn't it nice to have 2 disables? You can use this if Black Hole is on cooldown, or if there is only 1 enemy.

Shiva's Guard
Black King Bar protects you from spell casters. Shiva's Guard will protect you from right-clickers. It can give you an additional 15 armor and 30 intelligence! Also, it's active ability will synergise well with your Black Hole.

Luxury Items

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Necronomicon
This item is pure luxury. The summoned creeps can help you push so much faster, and they can give true sight. Useful against heroes like Riki.

Ghost Scepter
Ghost Scepter can also be purchased on Enigma. It makes you immune to auto attacks for a short period, but it increases the magic damage that you take. If you face a lot of right-clicking carries, then this is a good pickup. DON'T pick this up if you're facing lots of casters, duh!

Boots of Choice

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Tranquil Boots are definitely the best boots for Enigma. That health regeneration is just so nice, and the 90 movespeed will help you roam faster, so you don't miss any teamfights.

Some of you may be wondering about Arcane Boots. I don't know if you noticed it, but all your spells cost more than 135 mana. So, Arcane Boots isn't going to help a lot.

The other boots of choice will have to be Boots of Travel. This will ensure you don't miss any teamfights, as well as let you push multiple lanes without trouble.

Other Initiation Items

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Force Staff
Force Staff is a very nice alternative to Blink Dagger. You can push yourself into the enemy team and initiate. But if the enemy is fast enough, they can counter you. Blink Dagger is still better. Only get Force Staff if you really can't save enough gold for Blink Dagger.

Shadow Blade
This item is pretty nice. You can walk, or float, right under the enemy's nose without them even knowing. But if they have Gem of True Sight, Dust of Appearance, Sentry Ward or Necronomicon, you're dead.
Again, only get this if you can't save enough gold for Blink Dagger.

Rejected Items

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Dagon

Radiance
I've seen many players picking up Radiance for Enigma. The burn damage can be used in conjunction with Black Hole, and it helps you jungle faster.
Okay first of all, this is a carry item. You are not a carry. You have no use for the bonus damage. You think you can kill someone with your auto attacks?
Secondly, the point of Black Hole isn't do deal damage. It is to disable enemies for your team to finish them off.
You can farm the jungle faster? Radiance costs 5150 gold, in case you don't know. You're spending 5150 gold just to farm the jungle a little faster?
So, don't get Radiance. Spend the gold on other, more useful items.

Hand of Midas
People like to get Hand of Midas because you can farm faster.
Okay, look. Firstly, the attack speed is useless to you. You are not a right-clicker, please.
Secondly, it provides no stat boosts at all.
Also, its active ability only gives 190 gold, and it has a 100 second cooldown. You know how much gold you can earn in 100 seconds in the jungle? Way more than 190 that's for sure.
So, don't get this item. It's a waste of 2050 gold.

DagonDagon
Please don't. You are not a nuker. People fear you because of your teamfight capabilities. Don't be an annoying piece of **** who killsteals his teammates.

How to be King of the Jungle

You are a position 4 support and a jungler. You are not a position 5 hard support, so don't go to your lane and babysit your carry. Instead, you should head to...



TO THE JUNGLE!

For a non-carry hero, Enigma actually needs a lot of farm. The jungle is your place. You can farm safely and get all the gold and exp for yourself. Also, you can let one of your allies solo lane, so both of you can get farm faster. Just make sure your ally is a good solo laner or he will get raped by the enemy.

So yes, the jungle is your place.

But that doesn't mean enemies can't pay you a visit...

So, the first thing you want to do is to secure your jungle.

Securing your Jungle

So how do we "secure" the Jungle?

Of course, Observer Wards.

Map vision is the way to secure your jungle. You want to ward the entrances of your jungle. When you see enemies coming, just get the hell out of there! You can't solo fight anyone. You just can't. So don't even try to. Just run.

Ok, here are good places to ward:

Radiant Jungle

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This is a very popular warding spot. It is also the "main entrance" to the Radiant's jungle. If you are Radiant, you want to place 1 Observer Ward here. This is usually where enemies go to gank the bottom lane. So if you see enemies coming, get out of there and warn your teammate!
Also, you can check the rune. Be sure to frequently check for runes.

This spot will allow you to see any enemies coming in from the Bottom Lane. This is another important spot because if enemies find you missing, they will surely check the Jungle. So if you see them coming from the lane, just run.

Dire Jungle

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For the Dire Jungle, you can place a ward here. This is usually the route enemies take to gank the Top Lane. So again, if you see enemies coming, get out of there and warn your teammate. You can also see the rune from here.
Remember not to place the ward too far inside, or you will block that camp!

This spot allows you to see enemies coming from the Top Lane. Again, if you see enemies coming, just run.

Alright! Your jungle is now secure! Be sure to always keep your eyes on your wards. If you see enemies coming, RUN. You can't solo kill anyone. End of story. So just run.

Jungling Time!

So you've secured your jungle. You can now start Jungling!

Neutral creeps will only spawn at the :30 mark once the game starts.

Start with the Easy and Medium Camps:



Yes, start with the GREEN and YELLOW camps. Your Eidolons are still too small to do the Hard Camps.

How should I use Demonic Conversion?

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Take a look at the picture below.


There are 3 neutral creeps. The one that is blue in colour is the most powerful, because his level is higher, and he has abilities.

So obviously, you cast Demonic Conversion on him.

This will make it easier for you to kill the other creeps, obviously. Think of Demonic Conversion as a, mini Helm of the Dominator. So obviously, you want to use it on the most powerful creep :)


Cast it on the most powerful creep, and start farming!

After that, your Eidolons should still be alive, and even multiply! So move on to the next camp.

NOTE: You can cast Demonic Conversion on your own Eidolons! This is useful if you are farming the Mud Golem camps.

Micro-Managing your Eidolons

You MUST micro-manage your Eidolons. If they die, your farm will be reduced significantly. I mean, they are your children, so you should protect them.

If one of your Eidolons is low on health, move him to the back. This way, the creeps will attack the other Eidolons who still have high health. Rinse and repeat.


If your Eidolon has low health, move him to the back so the creeps will attack the other Eidolons. That is how you micro manage!

Stacking

Stacking creeps is a great way to increase your farm because there will be more creeps.
Basically, wait until the :52 mark. Attack the creeps once when it hits :52, then run away from the camp.
The creeps will follow you for 7 seconds, before returning to their camp. When they return to their camp, a fresh new group of neutral creeps will spawn.

NOTE: you should only stack the EASY CAMPS. This is because your Eidolons can't handle too many medium creeps.
Examples of easy camps are the Ghost camp and the Hill Troll camp.

I won't go too much into stacking. Click Here if you want to learn about stacking, or pulling, or stuff like that.

Gameplay

Early Game

Remember, you are not a hard support. Don't go do things like babysit your carry. Leave that to your position 5 supports.

Firstly, you want to cast Demonic Conversion on your first wave of creeps, for whichever lane needs it more. This is so you can deny that creep, and deny the enemy experience.

Neutral creeps only spawn at the 30 second mark. So you have 30 seconds to run back to your base and regenerate your mana, which is more than enough time.

Hopefully your starting build looks something like this:

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If someone else already bought the Animal Courier, spend the gold on a Sage's Mask.
Okay, so you go to the jungle. Once you have enough gold, buy another 2 Claritys, and have the courier deliver them to you. After that, just rush your Soul Ring. Once you have Soul Ring, you won't need Claritys anymore.
Soul Ring will take away some health, so you can use the Tangos to regenerate your health.

Jungle until you hit level 6, then you can start ganking.

During early game, don't be afraid to use Black Hole on just one enemy. If you teammates can secure the kill, just use Black Hole. Yes, the cooldown is long. But being able to secure the kill is always worth it.

Mid to Late game

ALWAYS CARRY A Town Portal Scroll! This will ensure you don't miss any teamfights.

Mid game is when the teamfights will begin. You, DON'T MISS ANY TEAMFIGHTS. I really mean DON'T. You are the one with the gamebreaking ultimate. You missing a teamfight could end up with your whole team dead!

Always stay close to your team. The reasons are simple - You are squishy, and you can't solo fight anyone. You should try not to push alone, even though you are a great pusher. Because you have no escape mechanism.

Roaming and Ganking

This is where your Tranquil Boots come in handy. You can roam so much faster with the extra movement speed. And also, after a gank, you can regenerate health.

Enigma is a very big help in ganks because his Black Hole and Malefice will prevent enemies from getting away. Midnight Pulse can also be used to eat away at the enemy's health.

I will say this again. Don't be afraid to use Black Hole on only 1 enemy during early game! Securing a kill is always worth it.

You can start your gank by casting Black Hole on the enemies, and let your allies hit them. If they try to run away, use Malefice. Malefice is just so effective for chasing down enemies.

Warding

As a position 4 support, your job is to get Observer Wards whenever your position 5 can't. Like maybe he doesn't have enough gold, or he's dead.

Map vision is key to winning any game. You can monitor enemy movements, avoid potential ganks and even get some kills.

If you realise that your hard support isn't planting wards, then it is your job to do so. Just buy a few Observer Wards and place them at common areas like the rune spots.

Now you may be thinking - won't buying wards only delay my core items?
I've recently found out that dying costs more than Observer Wards. So, get wards for the benefit of your team.

I'm not going to talk too much about warding. If you want to read Team-Dignitas' awesome guide on warding, Click here

Teamfighting

Now we get to your most important job - being an initiator. It is very important how you initiate, because that could really make or break a teamfight.

Here are your combos to initiate:

Without Black King Bar

Combo 1

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-->

Combo 2

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--> -->

With Black King Bar

Combo 1

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--> -->

Combo 2

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--> --> -->

If you are an inexperienced player, or you can't click very fast, you should probably use Combo 1.
This will be safer for you, because if you can't cast your spells fast enough, enemies will have time to counter you, and that will mean GG for your team.
Just Blink Dagger into their team and cast Black Hole immediately.

However, if you are a more experienced player and you have fast hands, you can choose to go for Combo 2.
It will allow you to deal more damage to the enemies, so your team can finish them off easily.
Remember, don't cast Midnight Pulse if you can't do it fast enough. Make sure you have fast hands if you want to do this.

And umm, try to catch as many enemies as you can in your Black Hole.
Remember, the point of casting Black Hole is not to deal damage. It is to disable the enemy team so your team can finish them off. So don't think you are a carry and try to kill everyone by yourself!

So, initiate and have fun!

Friends and Foes

Every hero has their own best friends and worst enemies. Enigma is no exception. Here are some of your bestest buddies, and some of your most hated opponents.

Friends

Enigma actually has a lot of friends, because he is a good team player.

Earthshaker
His Echo Slam combined with your Black Hole will crush the whole enemy team. The more enemies you catch in your ultimate, the more deadly his ultimate becomes.

Sand King
One of the deadliest skill combinations in the game would be Black Hole and Epicenter. Your Black Hole will let him channel his ultimate safely, and once he does, it's GG for the enemy team.

Kunkka
2 of Kunkka's skills are very hard to land. But if he does land them, they can deal huge damage. Use your Black Hole and let him land his skills.

Shadow Fiend
When you use Black Hole, he can safely walk into the enemy team and use his ultimate.

Dark Seer
Have you ever tried Black Hole+ Wall of Replica?

These are just a few of your friends. Actually, just about every hero is your friend!

Foes

While you have your friends, you also have your foes. Here are some heroes that you don't want to play against.

Silencer
Of course Silencer is your enemy. The last thing you could ever want is to get silenced in a teamfight! Also, his Global Silence GOES THROUGH MAGIC IMMUNITY, so he can stop your Black Hole channel even if you have BKB on! You don't want to play against him.

Vengeful Spirit
Her Nether Swap will stop your Black Hole channel. And it goes through magic immunity. Also, she can just swap you into her team before you even get the chance to initiate.

Beastmaster
His Primal Roar stops your Black Hole channel, and it goes through magic immunity.

Faceless Void
Chronosphere also stops your Black Hole channel. Goes through magic immunity as well.

Enchantress
No need for introductions here. This little goat woman can excel in the enemy's jungle. YOUR jungle. Nothing worse than sharing the jungle with an enemy!

Chen
Same as Enchantress. He also excels in the enemy jungle.

Summary

So in a nutshell, Enigma is a position 4 support hero who excels in the jungle. He should never be put in lanes, but nonetheless he can also do well in solo lanes.

He is pretty farm dependent for a non-carry hero. That is why he must be put in the jungle.

Overall, Enigma is a versatile hero who is fun to play. I mean, when you pull off a successful 5 man Black Hole, the feeling is just so great.

That's all Folks!

Well, that's pretty much it. I'm still quite new to guide writing, so I apologise for any mistakes.

I hope my guide has helped you to understand Enigma better. I would greatly appreciate your feedback so I can do better in the future.

Bye for now!