Rotundjere Necrolyte Guide
Written by JooN-
Table of contents
Part I - Introduction
1. Foreword
2. Hero Overview
3. Taking a Closer Look
4. Hero Abilities
Part II - The Front Line Medic
1. Introduction to Build
2. Recommended Skill Order
3. Explanation for Skills
4. Core Build
5. Item Build
6. Item Explanations
7. Rejected Items
Part IV - Walkthrough
1. Early Game
2. Mid Game
3. Late Game
Part V - Miscellaneous
1. Good Allies
2. Worst Enemies
3. Replays
4. Conclusion
5. Changelog
1. Foreword
I really have nothing much to say here except to say Necrolyte is one of my favorite heroes in DotA. My goal is to introduce the basics and show my playstyle for people to tweak around with. Well, I’m not much of a writer so let’s move on with the guide!
2. Hero Overview
Base movespeed is 290.
Base STR is 16 + 2.0 per level.
Base AGI is 15 + 1.7 per level.
Base INT is 22 + 2.5 per level.
Base Damage is 44-48.
Base HP is 454.
Base Mana is 286.
Base Armor is 1.1
Attack Range is 600.
3. Taking a Closer Look
For an INT hero, he has good strength growth, but low INT growth. But we don’t mind this, as this makes him more versatile. He has low armor and below average movement speed but they can be fixed easily with two simple items. What’s important is fully utilizing his potential by keeping his strengths and filling the areas he only shows potential in, but not fully recognizable.
Necrolyte is the type of hero who’s role is vague. He has an AOE nuke/heal similar to Scream of Pain, a spell that reduces the enemy’s base damage, and an ultimate that spells doom for anyone at less than 50% of their HP. As such, defining a certain playstyle and item build for this hero becomes vague as well. Necrolyte is a great pusher, supporter, and to some extent, a hero killer and tanker.
Hopefully, this small section will help you get the general idea of where I’m going at. If not, well just read on.
4. Hero Abilities
Death Pulse[D] - The Necrolyte releases a wave of death from the core of his being, dealing damage to enemies and healing allies.
Level 1 - 75 damage/50 heal.
Level 2 - 125 damage/75 heal.
Level 3 - 200 damage/100 heal.
Level 4 - 275 damage/130 heal.
125/145/165/185 mana cost and 5 seconds cooldown at all levels
Simply a great skill. The skill works like Scream of Pain. You release green skulls in an area around you. The difference between death pulse and SOP, however, is that death pulse affects your allies and creeps, as well as yourself by healing. This makes it way better than scream of pain.
Diffusion Aura - A 450 range aura that makes the might of an enemy leak out in the presence of Rotund’jere.
Level 1 - 9% damage reduction.
Level 2 - 18% damage reduction.
Level 3 - 27% damage reduction.
Level 4 - 36% damage reduction.
Diffusion aura works by reducing your enemy’s base damage and the damage from their main stat. Incredibly useful, yet incredibly foolish to think this skill will let you run in and tank everything. Heroes with pure damage items and spells will still rip you apart if you play carelessly.
Sadist - Reveling in death and pain, the Necrolyte regains mana for killing units.
Level 1 - 12 mana per unit.
Level 2 - 24 mana per unit.
Level 3 - 36 mana per unit.
Level 4 - 48 mana per unit.
To be honest, I don’t really like this spell. It’s really useful early game but tapers off as soon as you get a mana regen item. However, early game you shouldn’t be spamming your death pulse to require mana from last hitting or from creeps. Using death pulse means running up to your enemies and trying to hit them, heal yourself, and get a few creep kills. For such a limited use, this skill tapers off very quickly.
Reaper’s Scythe[R] - Brings a target to full realization of its own mortality, dealing damage based on how much life the target is missing. Stuns for 1.5 seconds.
Level 1 - .4 damage per life missing.
Level 2 - .6 damage per life missing.
Level 3 - .9 damage per life missing.
[Scepter]Level 4 - 1.1 damage per life missing.
200/340/500 mana cost and 150/120/70 cooldown
Simply an amazing ultimate. Unlike most other ultimates, this skill becomes more and more powerful as the game goes on. Basically, you do the listed damage to your desired target for every point of HP he’s missing. Imagine that pumped up centaur thinking he can mess around with your team with his massive HP pool, only to forget that with reaper’s scythe, he can only afford to lose roughly half his HP.
1. Introduction to Build
This build is designed to make you a supporter, a pusher, and a semi-tanker. The stats gotten early game along with your mek and bracers will kick your HP above most heroes in the battlefield, giving you a hefty edge in ganks. Combined with your mek and spammable heal/nuke, you will be one of the best support heroes in the battlefield and one of the scariest with your reaper’s scythe ready to take anyone with less than 50% HP down in one hit.
2. Recommended Skill Order
Level 1 - Death Pulse
Level 2 - Stats
Level 3 - Death Pulse
Level 4 - Stats
Level 5 - Death Pulse
Level 6 - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 7 - Death Pulse
Level 8-10 - Stats
Level 11 - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 12-13 - Stats
Level 14-15 - Diffusion Aura
Level 16 - Reaper’s Scythe
Level 17-18 - Diffusion Aura
Level 19-21 - Stats
Level 22-25 - Sadist
3. Explanation for Skills
Maxing out death pulse is common sense. It is your heal and nuke and gives you lane control.
Perhaps the biggest issue in my skill build would be skipping sadist. Like I explained earlier, sadist only works in a small frame of time. As soon as you purchase a void stone, sadist immediately begins to taper off. Further more, it does nothing to contribute to your lane control. You just can’t harass with death pulse without expecting a counter attack. Having a bigger mana pool and HP will help you survive and kill.
You get stats until you can no longer get it. From level 14 onwards, max out diffusion aura. Early to mid game, nukes prevail while DPS heroes dominate late game. Although not a huge help, diffusion aura will make you beefier and makes you a lot tougher than most INT heroes.
Take reaper’s scythe whenever you can. Some people prefer taking stats at level 6 and getting reaper’s scythe at 10-11 but I highly recommend taking it at level 6. Reaper’s scythe at level 1 is still powerful and the stun is valuable in ganks.
4. Core Items
- Mekansm
+5 to all stats
+5 armor
3 HP regen aura
+2 armor/250 AOE heal
2434 gold
- 2x Bracers
+6 to all attributes
Additional +6 to strength
- Boots of Travel
Increases movement speed by 90
Teleport to any friendly hero, 60 second cooldown
2700 gold
- Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse
+35 damage
+25 INT
+150 mana regeneration
hex for 3 seconds
- Heart of Tarrasque
+35 strength
300 hit points
+11 hit points regenerated per second
5. Item Build
Ring of Regeneration + 2 Branches - 489 gold
Buy Headdress of Rejuvenation - 225 gold
Buy Boots - 500 gold
Buy Bracers x2 - 1020 gold
Buy chainmail - 620 gold
Complete Mekansm - 900 gold
Buy Staff of Wizardry - 1000 gold
Buy Void Stone - 900 gold
Buy Robe of the Magi - 450 gold
Complete Euls Scepter of Divinity - 450 gold
Buy Boots of Travel Recipe - 2200 gold
Buy Robe of the Magi - 450 gold
Buy Sobi Mask - 325 gold
Buy Quarter Staff (Finish Oblivion Staff) - 1150 gold
Complete Guinsoo Scythe of Vyse - 450 gold
Messerschmidt’s Reaver - 3200 gold
Vitality Booster - 1100 gold
Complete Heart of Tarrasque - 1200 gold
6. Item Explanations
Your first major item will be mekansm. Mekansm provides you with everything you need: armor, stats, and the useful AOE heal. This item will make you beefy with your already decent stats.
I changed from point booster to two bracers for two reasons: 1) The two bracers are easier to build as they are made of smaller pieces, hence giving consistent benefits even before you complete them (circlets and gauntlets) 2) My core build became VERY expensive, which leaves no possible items to get afterwards. As such, there will be no skadi or aghanim’s scepter to even get, making the point booster useless.
Complete euls after your mek. By this time, you’ll need the mana regen as well as the mana boost to cover up your low INT gain and your death pulse which uses up alot of mana as well as being spammable. The cyclone charges will help you in many situations, whether it’s dispeling god’s strength or running away from a dangerous opponent.
BOT is the standard item for all heroes except Furion. The teleport is ever useful in defending, pushing, and ganking as well as escaping. Also provides more movement speed and you have no need for IAS from treads.
Complete guinsoo after you’ve used up your cyclone charges and you’ve completed your BOT. Guinsoo will definitely support your mana pool from constant death pulse usage, mek, and reaper’s scythe which costs a whopping 500 mana at level 3. The hex is too good to pass up and the added damage is a plus as well.
Heart of Tarrasque should be an optional item after the core build, but I felt it was necessary to include it in the core build as I would never choose anything else after guinsoo. The added HP will make you an absolute bitch to kill and that’s necessary for you to keep spamming death pulse in the middle of a team fight. By completing this item, it would definitely be foolish to ever focus fire on you and it would cost them the team fight if they let you spam death pulse and use reaper’s scythe. There will rarely be times when you reach HOT, hence why I stated it should be an optional item after the core build.
7. Items to avoid
Dagon
No, no and no. You’re relying too much on your ultimate or to KS. You need to buff yourself by making yourself more resilient than relying on a combo that will only work for so long before becoming ineffective. Dagon will only hinder you with a nuke that costs more mana than the item offers.
Damage Items
You’re not a battle mage. It is viable, yes, but even then getting guinsoo will work out much better since it gives you damage as well as hex and let’s you use your spells freely. But then again, your priority is making yourself tough and support. Do what you do best, not forcing a role that you cannot effectively digest.
1. Early Game
Ring of Regeneration
Ironwood Branch x 2
Complete Headdress of Rejuvenation
Boots
Circlets x2
1. Death Pulse
2. Stats
3. Death Pulse
4. Stats
5. Death Pulse
6. Reaper’s Scythe
7. Death Pulse
Head out to any lane after your ring and two branches. You will do reasonably well in any lane. Necrolyte can solo effectively, but he is more useful with a lane partner. You will do well with just about anyone as you have 600 range and a heal/nuke. Preferably, you will want to stick with someone who will let you run in and release hell like sand king. Your goal early game is to last hit, deny and occasionally look for kills if you have a desirable lane partner. Some lane combos that I particularly like are necrolyte/sand king, necrolyte/QOP, and necrolyte/leviathan. Don’t be afraid to harass any melee opponents or low ranged heroes like morphling. Your superior range and beefy stats allows you to do just that.
Aim for a kill in your lane when you and your lane partner hit level 6. It is best if you were able to consistently harass your opponents but it is not required. If you’re at full mana, you will be able to chain two death pulses and use reaper’s scythe for the kill. Have your lane partner initiate with their stun or slow and run in and death pulse. Take a few pot shots if you can or just run along and wait for death pulse to cooldown and use it again. Use reaper’s scythe to finish him off. The 1.5 second stun that comes with reaper’s scythe will allow you to miscalculate by a little and let your lanemate finish him off with a second nuke of his own. If your lanemate requires channeling like sand king, don’t be afraid to use reaper’s scythe on your opponent who has a stun or any channel disrupting spell. Follow up with another death pulse and that should do the job.
The story becomes different if you’re solo or with a lane partner who simply can’t help you kill. In that case, play it safe and just farm and deny. If you’re against a powerful lane, then be very careful not to get caught in a combo. Such combos to be wary of are lina/cm, jugg/rhasta, and chen/insert stunner/nuker.
2. Mid game
Complete Mekansm
Complete bracers x2
Complete Eul’s Scepter of Divinity
8-10. Stats
11. Reaper’s Scythe
12-13. Stats
14-15. Diffusion Aura
At this point of the game, you will need to be aware of any missing heroes. Supply observer wards as you are a support hero and just continue farming in your lane and gank around whenever your ultimate is ready.
Mekansm and bracers along with your stats will make you tough enough to take just about anyone at this stage of the game with a few exceptions. You notice I choose staff of wizardry over void stone. What you need is a big mana pool so that you can spam your death pulse, use mek, and use reaper’s scythe. Mana regen problems should be solved after a bigger mana pool.
It is very important to keep up with the game pace. You’re sort of like a weaker tormented soul in terms of firepower, but beefier in terms of survivability. You need to be in the front line of the battle which means you need more HP and armor. That requires you to balance farming and ganking as well as supporting. Necrolyte isn’t hard to play, but his role is hard to grasp, which could make you weak if you don’t do the right thing. If you gank too much then you will risk falling behind in levels and items. If you farm too much, you haven’t utilized your full potential and if you spend too much on wards, you will fall behind in items. Being able to balance farming and ganking is crucial to any necrolyte player.
One way to determine the balance of farming and ganking is looking at your opponents and your lineup. If your opponents are weak late gamers then now is your chance to permanently set them back. Focus more on ganking than farming. If they’re late gamers then death pulse spamming with your allies will be enough to kill them. However, don’t do stupid stuff like tower diving with rhasta around the corner. You will feed and make the game hard later.
If you guys are evenly matched in terms of heroes, then see who has the upper hand. If your team is heavily ganked and struggling, don’t be afraid to buy lots of observer wards to counter their gank strategy. If your opponents are passively farming, then take advantage of that and gank with your teammates. Always give up a lane to your carry hero and move on to another lane to gank.
3. Late Game
Complete BOT
Complete Oblivion Staff
Complete Guinsoo
(If the game is still going, complete Heart of Tarrasque)
16. Reaper’s Scythe
17-18. Diffusion Aura
19-21. Stats
22-25. Sadist
At this point of the game, pushing takes priority. You are able to freely spam death pulse on every creep wave thanks to your euls/guinsoo. Death pulse combined with diffusion aura makes you one of the best pushers in the game. Diffusion aura reduces your opponent’s creep damage and death pulse weakens their creeps and heals your own creeps. When consistently done, you will have a huge wave of creeps approaching your enemy’s base. The only time this will be a problem is if you’re against ES. So remember to stay in the middle of the creeps and spam death pulse at every wave.
In team battles your role is simple; stay behind your tanker and spam death pulse. Use your ultimate against their disablers, DPS heroes, or AOE nuker. Your job is to heal and take out one of their hero before dying. Don’t be afraid to use your ultimate if they have channeling ultimates like freezing field or black hole and don’t be afraid to die as long as you used your mek, your ultimate, and you were able to spam a few death pulses.
1. Worst Enemies
Antimage:
The bane of all INT heroes. Who doesn’t hate AM?!? After you use your ultimate and spam a few death pulses, a mana void will completely decimate you. Consider getting guinsoo instead of linkens if he poses as a sufficient threat to you and your teammates.
Pugna
Ward screws you over. Badly. You’ll damage yourself more than healing yourself when nether ward is up and using your ultimate spells doom for you. Thank god pugna and necrolyte are both scourge. In AP games, don’t ever pick necrolyte if the opposing team has a pugna. NEVER.
Frankly, AM and pugna are the only heroes that I consider a worst enemy. Necrolyte is a well rounded hero with almost no weaknesses that other heroes can exploit.
2. Replays
necrolyteinhouse.w3g ( 1.12mb )
Number of downloads: 997
Alright, here’s a fresh replay from an inhouse between clan members of trog. It’s 1.21, 6.42 and the game mode is teampick shuffle players.
Lineup:
CM + BM Viper + SK
Silencer Lich
Rhasta + VS Necrolyte + QOP
Let me start off by saying I really did not like the lane matchups. I really thought viper should have solo’ed mid while SK and necrolyte goes top and lich and QOP goes bottom. That would’ve been the better route. Viper against silencer is a no brainer while SK and necrolyte is a fairly powerful lane. Lich and QOP can’t be argued because it’s probably one of the strongest lane combos scourge has to offer. And to support my claim, our early game did not go well. We suffered alot from their better lane control and it was detrimental throughout the entire game. Watch as I use my reaper’s scythe on BM’s pig while CM laughs his ass off running away with red HP. I swear I was yelling so much on vent because that was the most stupidest shit I’ve ever done. I did really bad early to mid game because of slow reflexes and bad judgement. However, I start picking it up once we reached mid/late game in the crucial team battles (thank god) and managed to salvage my horrible gameplay. I managed to keep their CM down in almost every team battles we fought late game with great use of cyclone and reaper’s scythe to stop his freezing field from doing any serious damage. You will see the power of death pulse spam in this game as well as how powerful a decent necrolyte can be in any matchups.
Oh and yes, my name is rice.farmer in that game. I don’t use my JooN- account anymore (I only use JooN- to get in dgio and dgiv).
3. Conclusion
I have no clue as to why I wrote a guide to a hero that is already well covered by Piemonger and Yuri. Perhaps I wanted to add more or perhaps I’m just plain retarded, but I hope this guide served its purpose on teaching people how to play necrolyte. This guide is far from done (I inherited inDe_eD’s laziness) so I will appreciate comments and feedback for improvement.
4. Credits
- Thanks to inDe_eD, I was able to come up with a different guide layout. I used his layout as a basis and if he ever feels that I wrongfully used it, he can PM me
- Thanks to Piemonger and Yuri for teaching me the basics on how to play necrolyte when I was a newb.
