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Tango
Healing Salve
ClarityClarity
Iron BranchIron Branch
Ring of Protection
Magic Wand
Boots of Speed
Ring of Basilius
Ring of Health
Town Portal Scroll
Arcane Boots
Vanguard
Bloodstone
Town Portal Scroll
Arcane Boots
Vanguard
Bloodstone
Heart of Tarrasque
Pipe of Insight
Aghanim's Scepter
Assault Cuirass
Black King Bar
Blade Mail
Shiva's Guard
Force Staff
Linken's Sphere
Gem of True Sight
Drum of Endurance
Cheese
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2 | 3 | 12 | 14 |  |
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4 | 5 | 7 | 8 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
| 1. | INTRODUCTION |
| 2. | PROS/CONS |
| 3. | ABILITIES |
| 4. | ITEMS |
| 5. | EARLY GAME |
| 6. | MID/LATE GAME |
| 7. | FRIENDS AND FOES |
| 8. | CONCLUSION |
| 9. | Changelog |
Welcome to my guide on Dirge the Undying! He is a powerful and dynamic hero that can fit into a variety lineups. He shines most when initiating and tanking the team fights and if left unchecked, he can lay on the damage and debuffs for a quick victory. Pop your ultimate, lay down your tombstone and your nukers will have a field day. He also is one of the best early game and counter-gank heroes out there. With his ability to heal, ramp up his strength and mass zombies, he is a pain to take down. Lastly, he IS NOT A CARRY!! Do not pick him expecting to be getting a majority of the team's kills. However, if you farm well early on and team fight properly, the results will show on your KDA. This is my first guide so all comments and upvotes are appreciated!
PROS
Decay is what allows Dirge to soak up the damage in the heat of the team battles. This ability is meant to be spammed, as it has a cooldown of 4 seconds! It is also what makes him a huge threat to your lane opponents early game. It is a 300 aoe nuke for 40 damage at level 1 (160 at level 4), that also steals 4 strength. I choose to only get one level of this because the amount of strength gained does not increase. Although duration, cooldown and damage improve, with a starting duration of 21 seconds and a cooldown of 10, your skills are better put into Soul Rip and Tombstone early on. In team fights, hitting 5 opponents with decay will give you 380 hp and 20 extra damage. With a spammable 4 second cooldown at level 4, he quickly becomes a force to be reckoned with.
Soul Rip is another reason why Dirge is so dominant in team fight situations. It damages/heals for 25, multiplied by the amount of units around the target in a 975 aoe(this includes neutral creeps, tombstone zombies and Roshan). As well, all surrounding enemy units will take 25 damage(this damage cannot be lethal). I only choose to level this twice before level 6 because early game, you often wont be fighting in situations with more than 10 units in an area. As well, I have seen Soul Rip builds only leveled up once before level 6 and I don't believe that this utilizes the ability to its fullest early on. Another important thing to note about Soul Rip is that it can be used to heal your Tombstone.
Hands down one of my favourite abilities in the game. Tombstone allows you to sit back and laugh at the opponent as they are swarmed by zombies. Dirge summons a tombstone at a target location with 800 hp at level 4. Zombies from the tombstone spawn every three seconds on all enemy units within a 1200 radius at level 4. They are spell immune but die to one attack. Whats great about them is that each attack they land on their target will slow them by 9 percent, which DOES STACK. This means that a large amount of zombies on the field will heavily reduce the opponent's mobility, as well as deal damage.
The best part about the zombies is their Deathlust ability. When their target drops below the health threshold(400 hp at level 4), they gain maximum movement speed and double attack speed. This is not only effective during the fight, but also when its over. They will run around, cleaning up the battlefield and chase down the fleeing stragglers.
The reason I max this ability first is to get the 400 hp threshold for your zombies ASAP. The only reason I max it at 8 and not 7 is because a second level of Soul Rip is too important to pass up in the early game.
Flesh Golem is the ultimate that perfectly synergizes with all of Dirge's other abilities, and makes him an absolute monster(not that he isn't already). Some people think that popping his ult just increases damage and health to make him tankier. He does become tankier to some degree, but that isn't why the ultimate is used. The damage amplification is MASSIVE and will melt your opponent's health. Some people like to skip getting his ult at 6 and maxing out Tombstone by 7 instead, then getting your ultimate at 8. I disagree with this, Flesh Golem is to good of an ult to pass up at 6. The 20% damage amplification(30 at level 3), healing properties and slow are more powerful than an extra level of Tombstone for early game ganks, lane pushing and team fights. A level 3 Flesh Golem with 30% damage amplification standing beside someone essentially cuts down 1/3 of their total health. Additionally, it's scepter upgradable to increase damage amplification and health gain from nearby dying opponents!!!!
So to start off, lets talk about beginning items. I get standard hp and mana regen with Tango and Healing Salve, as well as Clarity. I see some players who don't buy Clarity and this is a mistake. Undying is a CASTER, and he will be using Decay and Soul Rip often in the early game, thus requiring Clarity. Buying Iron Branch is necessary for Magic Wand and last hitting power. Dirge needs farm to be successful and being able to get those last hits off is crucial. Lastly, Ring of Protection will be turned into Ring of Basilius.
In the early stages of the game, I always get a Ring of Basilius before Boots of Speed and Magic Wand. Dirge desperately needs the mana regen for spells, and the armor bonus because of his incredibly low agility. Following would be Magic Wand which is absolutely essential for extra survivability and extra bursts of mana that are needed to finish off enemies. Some people prefer 
Phase Boots and I can see how they would be useful, but Dirge is a caster and relies too heavily on his mana to not get Arcane Boots. Lastly, the Ring of Health will be turned into Vanguard, an critical item for a majority of tanks. It is also good to remember to try and always have a Town Portal Scroll on you. They are necessary for defending towers, pushing, ganking and returning to base.
Undying's core items are Arcane Boots, Vanguard and Bloodstone. Some people choose to disregard Bloodstone and in my opinion, they are making a huge mistake. He needs the mana, he needs the health, he needs the mana regen and the health regen. As well, because he is initiating, it is possible for him to get focused and die. That is where the Bloodstone charges come into play for your team, healing them and making sure that you get back into the fight with a shorter respawn time.
From there it largely depends on the flow of the game. If you are up against a team of casters, I might recommend a 
Hood of Defiance before finishing your Bloodstone. It is another source of healh regen and softens the blows from heroes like 
Lina and 
Lion. As well, it can be turned into a Pipe of Insight. Following my core items, I tend to lean towards a Heart of Tarrasque for the insane survivability it provides. However, Assault Cuirass, Black King Bar, Blade Mail and Linken's Sphere are all excellent choices for Dirge. As well, Drum of Endurance deserve a special mention and a great item to get. You are tough to bring down so the aura will last and the speed aura for your team is a huge bonus to have.
This is when Dirge is at his prime. The goal early on is to farm, farm farm. He is item dependent due to his needs for hp and mana. As well, do not lane with a carry because you will be fighting for farm. He lanes well with heroes like 
Lich, 
Venomancer and 
Crystal Maiden, heroes who can support and babysit without requiring early last hits. With an amazing attack animation like Undying's, it makes last hitting that much easier.
As I have stated earlier, Dirge is fantastic early game hero. When I play, first bloods are incredibly common due to Decay and Soul Rip. Decay steals 4 strength from the enemy and does 40 damage. Lets do some quick math. Each point of strength is 19 health. Which means that each decay successfully landed will steal 76 health, as well as deal 40 magical damage. Hitting both of your lane opponents (which isn't difficult with 300 aoe) will quickly give you roughly 160 more health, and drop their max down by around 80. Because of the short cooldown, even at level 1, hitting them twice with decay will steal 160 hp, as well as deal 80 damage before resistance. At level 1, 160 health is a big deal, around 1/4 of most heroes max hp. With a decent lane partner, Soul Rip and a couple of finishing punches, first blood should be a piece of cake.
Bottom line: farm to your hearts content(or until you have Ring of Basilius, Magic Wand, Boots of Speed and Ring of Health). Don't be afraid to be aggressive with Decay, but don't spam until you have no mana for fights. Coordinate attacks on the enemy lane for first blood and other kills. Lane dominance is easy to come by with Dirge.
So once you have farmed the necessary early game items, you are ready to roam the map, helping push and gank with your team. However, if you have had trouble early on and are still under farmed, don't leave your lane until you have adequate items for survivability. With Dirge you want to be at the forefront of team fights, which means that you have to be able to take damage. Pushing towers is about the best ways to get enemy heroes to come to you. When they show their faces, pop Tombstone then Flesh Golem and hit them hard with Decay and Soul Rip as your zombies run around. The reason you want to push a lot during this stage of the game is because other heroes scale better than you late game. That isn't to say that Dirge is useless later on, quite the contrary, but keeping heavy pressure with proper farm will make sure that heroes like 
Anti-Mage and 
Spectre wont show suddenly decide to join and solo win for their team.
This next point is too important to go unsaid. Proper placement of your Tombstone is necessary for it to be useful. Don't place it near towers or anywhere that the enemies can easily nuke it down, or where your zombies wont spawn on the opponents heroes. At level 4, it does have a large radius of 1200, but don't place silly Tombstones, they could cost your team the fight.
Also, don't be afriad to spend gold on 
Dust of Appearance or 
Observer Ward and 
Sentry Ward for your team. You are a support hero and these items are game changers. Map control wins games and vision of pesky heroes like 
Riki render them almost useless.
When approaching late game, not much changes with 
Undying. Continue to push and if you are behind, defend and counter push. If you haven't farmed up a Bloodstone yet, do so, it is essential for Dirge. From there you can choose a variety of items that suit Undying. depending on the flow of the game.
All in all, farm if you still need to, and BE THERE FOR THE TEAM FIGHTS. Your presence is absolutely key for an assured win during large fights, which will result in toppling their towers. Pushing throughout this stage of the game will increase chances of late game victory.
There are many heroes that Dirge get along famously with, however a few stand out from the crowd. Anyone who can restore your mana, provide large nukes or stun/slow(Dirge has no hard disable) will be useful beside you. Alongside your Flesh Golem, 
Laguna Blade and 
Finger of Death become oh so deadly. Although, carries like 
Drow Ranger and 
Sniper enjoy the damage amplification as well(who doesn't?).
Allies
Keeper of the Light Crystal Maiden Lina Lion
Zeus
Tinker
Leshrac
Queen of Pain Venomancer
Vengeful Spirit Keeper of the Light Anti-Mage
Silencer
Death Prophet Drow Ranger
Bloodseeker
PuckUndying is a walking powerhouse that can ultimately sway the flow of team fights and dominate his lane for a quick victory. This is my first guide so all feedback is more than welcome, i.e., do you agree with the build or anything I can do to upgrade/improve it? It is somewhat unfinished at them moment and I will be checking on occasion to make changes. Please read and comment/upvote!
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