- Tittle: Basic guide to Dark Seer
- Author: gaibo1
The Dark Seer is a master of manipulating the positioning of allies and enemies and causing confusion in battle. His Vacuum ability drags all enemy units a wide area to a central location. This spell is very deadly when combined with allies who have strong area of effect spells. The Dark Seer's primary damage source is Ion Shell. When cast on an allied unit or the Dark Seer himself, Ion Shell continuously damages all adjacent enemies, making it the natural complement to Vacuum. Ion Shell is powerful when cast on allied melee heroes who like to be in the thick of the fight. To aid his allies and to make sure Ion Shell is in range, the Dark Seer uses Surge, a powerful spell that makes a target ally move at maximum speed for a short period of time. This ability is useful in any situation, and due to its low cooldown period and mana cost it can be cast quite frequently. The Dark Seer's final spell, Wall of Replica, summons a shimmering barrier which duplicates any enemy hero that passes through it, creating an illusion of him. Wall of Replica is great at causing a lot of confusion during large battles, especially combined with Vacuum. For players who like a more strategic playstyle and can quickly determine the flow of battle, the Dark Seer is a good choice.
When to pick him? When not to?
Read the following 2 lists and answer those questions.
- Do we lack supports?
- Do I like supporting?
- Will my team do a lot of ganking?
- Do my teammates need chasing and/or get close to our enemies to be effective?
- Do my team have heroes that needs my help for their combo to be effective?
- Do I feel confident in your allies' teamwork skills?
- Do I like playing ugly heroes?
- Did I finish reading this guide?
And again,
- Do I prefer playing tanky/carry heroes, with your name showing up first thing in a kill?
- Am I one of those pubbies that can only flame instead of help?
- Do I killsteal and lasthit like a boss and piss off your team's carries?
- Do the enemy team have heroes that can eat up squishy/intelligence heroes like Dark Seer?
- Do I/my teammates hate ugly heroes?
- Did I just hastily gone through the guide/didn't read all/posted "tldr" for the first time you read this guide?
Results:
- If you answered yes to most of the questions in the first list, YES, GO AHEAD AND CLICK THAT UGLY FATASS DARK SEER'S ICON.
- If you answered yes to most of the questions in the second list, go pick another hero. Pick him the day he got a plastic surgery.
Pros:
- THE highest starting Intelligence among all heroes (29) and moderate int gain (2.7)
- Pro support in the right hands.
- Good combined starting stats (63) and stat growth (6.2).
- 3rd highest starting damage (60-66), with an average of 63, being the 3rd highest (the first two are strength heroes).
- Good base armor (5.68), the 4th highest in DotA (the first three are all agility heroes).
- Item independent.
- Flexible playstyle.
- Multipurpose spells.
- Strong hero from early to late game.
Cons:
- Melee.
- Ultimate effective in (almost) only teamfights.
- Takes time to master.
- Low starting agility (12) and agility gain (1.2).
- Ugly.
Skill
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Creates an abyss upon a chosen parameter, pulling in and damaging foes in the area.
- 1. Mana 100 / Cooldown 24 / 40 damage
- 2. Mana 130 / Cooldown 24 / 80 damage
- 3. Mana 160 / Cooldown 24 / 120 damage
- 4. Mana 190 / Cooldown 24 / 160 damage
- Damage type: magical
- This ability will interrupt channeling spells and items.
- Drags units over 0.4 seconds before dealing damage.
- Doesn't pull invulnerable units.
Awesome skill that pulls enemies into the same point. Can be used to stop enemies from escaping, especially from those AoE ultimates. Nevermore's Requiem is an excellent example. Can also be used to push away enemies when you/your ally is escaping. It also interrupts channeling spells so this is really useful.
Keep in mind that it costs 190 mana in level 4, and it has a cooldown of 22 seconds, so use the skill wisely!
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Surrounds a target with energized spellwork, creating a shield that causes damage per second to enemy units who come in contact with it.
- 1. Mana 70 / Cooldown 10 / Duration 20 seconds / 30 damage per second
- 2. Mana 90 / Cooldown 10 / Duration 20 seconds / 50 damage per second
- 3. Mana 110 / Cooldown 10 / Duration 20 seconds / 70 damage per second
- 4. Mana 130 / Cooldown 10 / Duration 20 seconds / 90 damage per second
- Damage type: magical
- 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.
Cool harassing spell, used with Vacuum and you've got a fleeing enemy. Use on creeps and they will all stay back from it, somewhat like Abaddon's Shield.
Remember, cast this when you see an ally fighting other heroes, it can hurt your enemies greatly if left unchecked.
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Floods a target with excess power giving it maximum speed for a brief period of time.
- 1. Mana 20 / Cooldown 12 / Duration 3 seconds / Gives maximum speed
- 2. Mana 30 / Cooldown 11 / Duration 4.5 seconds / Gives maximum speed
- 3. Mana 40 / Cooldown 10 / Duration 6 seconds / Gives maximum speed
- 4. Mana 50 / Cooldown 9 / Duration 7.5 seconds / Gives maximum speed
Ah, a lifesaving skill. Used on allies to escapes ganks, to chase heroes and even to snatch that rune/Aegis for teh lulz (which I'm not suggesting that you always should).
Also, note that even if you can autocast Surge, it seems that you can't autocast on yourself, and will usually be casted on creeps instead (and also interrupting your actions, as it won't let you continue what you was doing before casting Surge), therefore, avoid autocasting Surge.
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Raises a wall out of pure mana across the landscape. Enemy heroes who attempt to pass through it will take damage and have images of themselves emerge from the wall to serve under the Dark Seer until the wall's duration is up.
- 1. Mana 200 / Cooldown 100 / Duration 15 seconds / Illusions take 300% damage and deal 70% (100%*)
- 2. Mana 300 / Cooldown 100 / Duration 30 seconds / Illusions take 300% damage and deal 80% (120%*)
- 3. Mana 400 / Cooldown 100 / Duration 45 seconds / Illusions take 300% damage and deal 90% (140%*)
- Damage type: magical
- When the Wall creates an illusion of an enemy, it deals 150 damage to the affected hero.
- 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.
- Area of Effect specifies the length of the wall
- Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* show the improved value)
Gamebreaking and cool. In teamfights, this spell could cause chaos as enemies will try to focus on your allies, the illusions made by the spell can be really annoying. And it hurts too, with each illusion dealing up to 90% damage (140%, provided you have Scepter).
Skill Builds
Support lane build
- Level 1 - Surge
- Level 2 - Vacuum
- Level 3 - Ion Shell
- Level 4 - Vacuum
- Level 5 - Vacuum
- Level 6 - Ion Shell
- Level 7 - Vacuum
- Level 8 - Ion Shell
- Level 9 - Ion Shell
- Level 10 - Surge
- Level 11 - Surge
- Level 12 - Surge
- Level 13 - Wall of Replica
- Level 14 - Wall of Replica
- Level 15 - Stats
- Level 16 - Wall of Replica
- Level 17 - Stats
- Level 18 - Stats
- Level 19 - Stats
- Level 20 - Stats
- Level 21 - Stats
- Level 22 - Stats
- Level 23 - Stats
- Level 24 - Stats
- Level 25 - Stats
An early level of Surge is for escaping/getting first blood. Maxing Vacuum first helps a lot since it has a large AoE on level 4. Ion Shell is maxed next and finally Surge. Wall of Replica isn't as useful as in late game, so it's taken last. Naturally, you take stats afterwards.
Harassing lane build
- Level 1 - Surge
- Level 2 - Vacuum
- Level 3 - Ion Shell
- Level 4 - Ion Shell
- Level 5 - Ion Shell
- Level 6 - Vacuum
- Level 7 - Ion Shell
- Level 8 - Vacuum
- Level 9 - Vacuum
- Level 10 - Surge
- Level 11 - Surge
- Level 12 - Surge
- Level 13 - Wall of Replica
- Level 14 - Wall of Replica
- Level 15 - Stats
- Level 16 - Wall of Replica
- Level 17 - Stats
- Level 18 - Stats
- Level 19 - Stats
- Level 20 - Stats
- Level 21 - Stats
- Level 22 - Stats
- Level 23 - Stats
- Level 24 - Stats
- Level 25 - Stats
Taking Surge at level 1 helps with chasing and/or escaping, then take one level of Vacuum, in case of ganks/first blood attempts/decided to switch to support build. If you decided to stay with the harassing build, then max Ion Shell, then Vacuum, Surge, and go for Wall of Replica after all those spells as it'll be effective at that time. Finally, take stats.
Solo lane build
- Level 1 - Ion Shell
- Level 2 - Surge
- Level 3 - Ion Shell
- Level 4 - Surge
- Level 5 - Ion Shell
- Level 6 - Vacuum
- Level 7 - Ion Shell
- Level 8 - Vacuum
- Level 9 - Vacuum
- Level 10 - Vacuum
- Level 11 - Surge
- Level 12 - Surge
- Level 13 - Wall of Replica
- Level 14 - Wall of Replica
- Level 15 - Stats
- Level 16 - Wall of Replica
- Level 17 - Stats
- Level 18 - Stats
- Level 19 - Stats
- Level 20 - Stats
- Level 21 - Stats
- Level 22 - Stats
- Level 23 - Stats
- Level 24 - Stats
- Level 25 - Stats
Yeah, I said he'll be played mainly as a support in here, but Dark Seer going solo is also viable. Take Ion Shell and Surge in between, max Ion Shell, then Vacuum, and then Surge. Wall and stats, again, are taken after all the spells are taken.
Jungling build
- Level 1 - Ion Shell
- Level 2 - Surge
- Level 3 - Ion Shell
- Level 4 - Vacuum
- Level 5 - Ion Shell
- Level 6 - Vacuum
- Level 7 - Ion Shell
- Level 8 - Vacuum
- Level 9 - Vacuum
- Level 10 - Surge
- Level 11 - Surge
- Level 12 - Surge
- Level 13 - Wall of Replica
- Level 14 - Wall of Replica
- Level 15 - Stats
- Level 16 - Wall of Replica
- Level 17 - Stats
- Level 18 - Stats
- Level 19 - Stats
- Level 20 - Stats
- Level 21 - Stats
- Level 22 - Stats
- Level 23 - Stats
- Level 24 - Stats
- Level 25 - Stats
Surge is taken at level 2, since having Surge at level one isn't going to help you with jungling. Max out Ion Shell to ease up your jungling, then Vacuum, and finally Surge. Then Wall is taken, starting from level 13, where it is starting to become more useful at that point. Lastly, take stats.
Item Build
Dark Seer, again, is very flexible, and there are many items being useful to him. I came up with a list of possible items for him, which the item combinations/the "situational" tag or whatnot does not need to be followed completely (though I hope you do).
Starting Items:
Laning build:
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- Branches for cheap stats and a good game. Mantles for the intelligence boost and later, for Nulls, if you plan to make them. Moving on...
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- Since you should be the aggressive one, you should do a lot of harassing and attacking, which leads to getting a Stout Shield, to fend off attacks. Branches are gotten to help you in general, and even to upgrade to Wand later. Tangos for the heal and the Clarity for the mana replenishing.
Jungling build
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- Stout Shield is taken to help you survive against the neutrals' attacks, then take Tangos for heal and to destroy trees. A Salve to heal you in times of need and a Clarity to help you with your mana, as you might be using Ion Shell a lot.
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- Some say this build is better for jungling. IMO it's not as good as the first build, but if you are really sure what you're doing, go for this build.
Optional items
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- No other supports in the team?
- Nobody cares to buy?
- Too much cash on your hands?
- Buy these items if you must do so. If you do wish to buy them, think carefully what other items should be given up for them.
- Just remember to share your courier, unless your teammates are retarded.
Core item build
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- The core isn't really expensive, as he is item independent. Treads for cheap hp boost, Mek for burst heal, Urn for the heal/damage and provides a bit mana regen. Also, Vanguard to help you survive better.
- If you team faces many spellcasters, replace Mek with Pipe.
Utility items
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- Like ganking? Love smoking? Buy Smoke, if your team decides to gank enemies a lot.
- Got a pesky Rikimaru trolling you? Techies' mines screwing your team up? Try buying Sentries and Dust, but don't bother buying these too much.
- Remember to keep placing those Observer Wards around, so you could avoid some ganks and would help a lot in general.
- TP scrolls are really important. Get one of these on you all the time.
The boots argument
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And you can switch forms to give you agility or intelligence instead, pretty handy.
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Well, if your team needs to do a lot of casting, whereas they didn't buy Arcane Boots, nor Soul Ring; you don't think the bonus 8 strength/agility/intelligence makes that much of difference, or other possible reasons, you could buy Arcane Boots over Treads.
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- 55 movespeed is rather small. Arcane Boots give 60, Treads give the same and it gives stats, BoT gives 100, and Tranquil Boots give 75.
- Phase active for chasing/walk through creeps like a boss? Well, it's a handy active, yes, maybe you got surrounded by creeps, yes. Then, try using Vacuum/Ion Shell, kill those creeps then continue what you might be doing. For chasing? Use Surge, derp.
- 24 damage? Dude, like you would hardly attack enemy heroes. Attacking creeps? Dammit, get a Quelling Blade.
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- The yes: it's viable for him. Refer to late game items section (it's right below here!)
- The no: early/mid item? No. There are other items that is worth buying at that time.
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Late game items:
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- Scepter is a nice item for Dark Seer. With stats and some improvements to Wall of Replica, it's an item worth getting for him.
- BoT is gotten, as your allies might need you in many places, and you can't just assist them using illusions (if you have any, that is), right?
- Sheepstick - decent stats, okay mana regeneration, and the invaluable Hex, which greatly helps, especially if your team lacks disables.
Luxury items:
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Extra/situational items:
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Also, keep an eye on Bloodseeker. Bloodstone, geddit? Okay, so it was a bit lame...
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Not recommended if spellcasters like Lion is picked by an enemy.
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- But don't get fooled by the nice stats. It costs 3100 gold, something you don't always have around. You already have the chasing power, and with 3100 gold, you can probably buy some other more useful items with similar bonuses.
- Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this item is not worth buying, but since you just don't get 3100 gold from the ground, I'd brand this a situational item.
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Recommended!
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- It's a nice item, but it's rather overkill for Dark Seer. If all of your allies really need the speed bonus badly, and/or nobody bothering to buy and told you to get one, you could consider getting one.
- Though, if you got Janggo, don't bother replenishing charges. You have Surge, remember?
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- (sees Stick gaining a charge)
- "noob mirana i kno u just casted spell, ahahhaa"
- "omg, reported for maphack"
- and you might want to get Stick.. The burst heal is really helpful, but against heroes like KING LEORIC THE SKELETON KING, who only has Hellfire Blast to cast, you might not want to get this
.
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Too much branches on your hands and too lazy to sell them? Try upgrading it to Wand, which is just about the same. Wand gives 3 to all stats and has a 15 charge limit, whereas Stick allows 10 charges and gives to bonuses.
Optional, but compared to Bottle, I would prefer Stick/Wand over Bottle.
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But keep in mind that you also receive the damage normally, so you're gonna die anyway, in some cases.
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I wouldn't really recommend you to get it over all the other items you could get though, unless you're, say, in a 120 minute game with everything upgraded, 10k gold and Ghost Scepter lying in your inventory.
Rejected items:
Orb items
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- You don't need them, you have better items waiting to buy, if you go buy a Skadi for Dark Seer, I'll personally send you a facepalm.
Damage items
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- Like above, you want to cast spells and to support, not to be a DPS'er.
Others
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- Support, not KS.
- Support, not KS.
- Support, not KS.
- Geddit?
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- Seriously. I saw somebody with Lothar's once. He said that it'd be awesome if you can damage everybody with Ion Shell unnoticed (he should play Weaver, derp).
- Then he casted Ion Shell after he walked into 5 enemy heroes. After.
- Well, back to rejecting the item. You're not a DPS'er, you got an escape mechanism (sort of) and I can't really think of any reason to get this.
Strategy
Early Game
Laning:
- Place wards if you have any
- Help your lane partner as much as possible
- Gank if you can
- Don't steal your partner's last hit
- Harass with Ion Shell -> cast it on creeps
- Use Vacuum carefully, waste it and that first blood attempt may just slip away.
Jungling:
- Check if the creep camps are warded (no neutrals in there after 30 seconds, etc), otherwise you might want to go laning
- Use Ion Shell on yourself while killing neutrals
- Scout for runes if possible
- Pull creeps once in a while, but never overpull
- Help your allies when possible, eg: ganks
- If you're not familiar with jungling, visit this guide
Mid Game
- Stick with your team whenever ganking, you're valuable to them!
- Help out allies anywhere, especially your carries
- Cast Surge on allies if they need to chase or to escape, and even Vacuum, with correct positioning
- If your teammate is fighting enemy hero(es) in close range, remember to cast Ion Shell on him
- Abuse Vacuum, use it when escaping, chasing, juking, ganking, etc.
Late Game
- Push along with your teammates
- Participate in teamfights if possible, you will help a lot
- In teamfights, Vacuum is extremely important. Aid that Nevermore casting Requiem, Magnus casting his ultimate, etc.
- Also, cast Wall of Replica quickly after Vacuum, where the horde of illusions can be really dangerous
- Again, avoid stealing your carries' kills, intended or not, they need the gold more than you do
Edited by basicdotaguide.blogspot.com