LoveYueru's Guide To Shadow Fiend - DotA Guides

LoveYueru's Complete Guide to
Nevermore, the Shadow Fiend

Forum Version Here
Big Thank You to Sieno @ Tieba.com For this Image! Nicely done!
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Read the Chinese Translation Here ^_^
(Big Thank You to tel861394 for his brilliant translation!)
LoveYueru NEVERMORE
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Read the Russian Translation Here (BIG THANK YOU to operki for his fantastic
translation!)
Nevermore | | Shadow Fiend

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Read the Indonesian Translation Here (Huge Thanks to NdRuw for his
translation! Nicely done!
Nevermore guide by LoveYueru

Disclaimer: I'm not related to Days)Yueru. He doesn't deserve Yueru anyway!
Introduction
This guide is dedicated to Clan fRs (ferals). You guys are the best!
As a keen DotA player for over three years, I have played countless games, pub or
IH (inhouse) and it is rather sad that I must now say goodbye to DotA. Now that Im
officially retired from the game, I can finally draw from my experiences and write a
more-or-less complete guide on Nevermore, my favourite (and to some extent the
best) hero of all time. This guide, I believe, will help everyone, from beginners who
want to know more about this game to experienced players who are already playing
clan wars. This guide will be split into 3 parts (well, actually 4), because it is quite
long, but hopefully youll get through...but before I start, here's something for those
of you who have never seen Nevermore at his finest...or those of you who still think
that a 50 minute free-farm Medusa is actually what DotA really is!
Here's a beautifully edited Nevermore the Shadow Fiend montage which will OPEN
your eyes to some top-notch SF moments in some of the highest-level Pub, Inhouse
and Clan War games around the world. MUST WATCH.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Click on the Links to be taken to that Part immediately)
Part One: the Shadow Fiend's Arsenal
Part Two: Taking the Solo-Playing the Early Game
Part Three: Unleashing Havoc-Dominating the Middle-Late Game
Part Four: The Dawn of Battle (Credits Roll)
Alt-Tab Concise Guide for the Shadow Fiend
Show
Skill Build:
Level 1: Necromastery
Level 2: Shadowraze
Level 3: Shadowraze
Level 5: Shadowraze
Level 7: Shadowraze
Level 9: Requiem of Souls

Level 10: Stats
Level 12: Presence of the Dark Lord
Level 17-25: Stats
Starting Items:
Early Game Items:

OR
Core Items:
OR
OR
OR
(If your game is not going so well)
Luxury Items:
AND
OR
OR
Various Tips:
Take the Mid Solo.
For the early game, it's about 75% Farm and 25% Gank.
Runewhore as much as you can.
Farm a lot for the first 30 minutes, then focus on pushing. Never over farm.
Start pushing once you have BKB and preferably Dagger/Lothars on top of
Boots of Travel.
Dealing massive amounts of AoE damage in teamfights is what you do.
Last but not least...Practice Makes Perfect.
Hero Profile: Nevermore the Shadow Fiend
Affiliation: Scourge
Attack Animation: 0.5 / 0.54
Damage: 35 - 41
Casting Animation: 0.67 / 0.4
Armor: 1.9
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Movespeed: 300
Missile Speed: 1200
Attack Range: 500
Sight Range: 1800 / 800
15 + 2
20 + 2.4
18 + 2
As you can already see, Nevermore has one of the lowest starting damage in DotA
and in the hands of an inexperienced player, soloing with Nevermore against good
last hitters such as Viper can prove to be very difficult indeed. However, Nevermores
ability to solo lay not in his starting damage, but in his excellent missile speed, his
attack range and his Base Attack Time, not to mention his ability Necromastery that
gives him a tremendous boost in damage in the early-middle game. His movement
speed is quite average but not horrible.
His armour is quite low for an Agility hero. He has low strength gain, and for an
Agility hero, average Agility gain. However, he does have quite a high Intelligence
gain for an Agility hero which makes it possible for him to spam his Shadowrazes in
the middle game that makes farming (and carrying with Nevermore) very easy indeed.
Part One: the Shadow Fiend's Arsenal

Shadowraze
Show
Gives the Shadow Fiend the power to desecrate regions in front of him at varying
distances.
Damage type: magical
When Shadow Raze is learned, three independent skills will be given to
Nevermore, each one generating a Shadow Raze at a specific distance in front of
him.
Mana Cost (All Levels): 75
Damage (Levels 1-4 respectively): 75, 150, 225, 300
Cooldown (All Levels): 10 seconds
AoE (Area of Effect): 275
Shadowraze (Z) Cast Range: 200
Shadowraze (X) Cast Range: 450
Shadowraze (C) Cast Range: 700
Skill Explanation:
Shadowraze is without a doubt Nevermores bread and butter skill. To some extent,
mastering Shadowraze is essentially mastering Nevermore. This is really the kind of
stuff you see on those You tube DotA Mega Pwnage Videos and Nevermore
Montages and what makes Nevermore the hero that separates beginners from pros.
It is with utmost importance the one can raze with almost pinpoint accuracy as the
AoE of Shadowraze is quite smallthe red circles on the diagram are not particularly
accurate and the actual AoE is slightly smaller.
Shadowraze costs very little mana compared to the amount of damage it does. The
Cooldown on each Shadowraze (the first red circle being Z, second being X and
third being C) are separate which means Nevermore actually has three nukes on his
back. This means he can deal a maximum of 900 damage (675 if magic resistance is
considered) to a single target in a very short amount of time which makes Nevermore
very dangerous indeed especially in the early game, when very few heroes have more
than 900 hp. The tricks-of-the-trade to mastering Shadowraze will be discussed in
greater depth in another chapter.
Necromastery
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W henever the Shadow Fiend kills a target, he stores the unfortunate soul inside of
him. For each stored soul he gains 2 bonus damage until his own death releases
half of them from bondage.
Ability Type: Passive
Damage Cap (Levels 1-4 respectively): 16, 30, 46, 60
Heroes, denies and neutral creeps also provide Bonus damage through
Necromastery.
The more souls Nevermore has, the more powerful Requiem of Souls will be.
Skill Explanation:
Another one of Nevermores abilities that enables him to become a potent force in
the middle game, Necromastery is directly linked to his Ultimate, Requiem of Souls
and gives his massive DPS (damage-per-second, or just damage) advantage over
other heroes in the middle game.
Unfortunately, Necromastery loses a lot of its effectiveness towards the late-game,

as DPS-carries are mostly farmed up and the extra 60 damage become rather
minuscule. It is very important, as a Nevermore user, to maintain that edge through
the middle game as Nevermore tends to be most effective during the early-middle to
the middle-late game.
Presence of the Dark Lord
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The presence of such a horrible creature terrifies nearby enemies, reducing their
armour.
Ability Type: Passive
Armour Reduced (Levels 1-4 Respectively): 2, 3, 4, 5
Fully stacks with other armour reduction abilities and auras.
Is not affected by magic immunity e.g. Black King Bar.
Skill Explanation:
It is difficult to say when it is best to max out this ability. The problem with
Presence of the Dark Lord is that it needs to be maxed out in order for it to be
effective in any way and in a lot of cases, it is perhaps much better to invest in
Stats than to max out Presence of the Dark Lord.
Presence of the Dark Lord is best combined with Stygian Desolator as the armourreduction becomes very effective against many spellcasters. In an armour-reduction
team strategy (e.g. Nevermore with Vengeful Spirit, Slarder and Templar Assassin),
Presence of the Dark Lord should definitely be skilled. Otherwise, stick with Stats,
especially when the game is not going your way. Think about it this way: -5 armour,
or a free Ultimate Orb? (Well, almost an Ultimate Orb anyway)
Requiem of Souls
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Summons evil spirits around you dealing damage to units in the area. Number of
spirits is related to the number of souls stored and the movement/damage
reduction is related to the distance from the Shadow Fiend. Lowers movement
speed and damage of nearby units. The closer the units are the greater the effect.
Ability Type: Active
Ability Hotkey: R
Damage in each line (evil spirit) from Level 1-3: 80, 120, 160
Movement speed reduction, from Level 1-3: 15%, 20%, 25%
Channelling time: 1 Second
Mana cost, from Level 1-3: 150, 175, 200
AoE, from Level 1-3: 1300, 1325, 1350
Duration of slow on all Levels: 5 seconds
Damage type: magical
The amount of damage dealt is related to the number of souls captured with
Necromastery.
Requiem of Souls generates damaging lines around Nevermore, 1 per 2 souls
stored, for a maximum of 15 lines.
The closer the targeted unit is, the bigger the amount of lines affecting him.
Reduces both movement speed and attack damage of units in a 700 AoE.
This skill breaks invisibility a short time before it's released.
This skill has a 1 second cast time
Skill Explanation:
Perhaps a difficult-to-explain ability to some, but the mechanism is simplethe

closer Nevermore is to the target whilst he casts Requiem of Souls, the greater
damage he unleashes upon that target. If correctly used, Requiem of Souls will
create devastating damage in a team fight, especially when combined with items
such as Kelens Dagger (Lothars edge, in my opinion, is a valid but easily countered
optionwill be discussed in much greater depth later)
.
Nevermore's Ultimate can do a massive amount of damage in team battles. This is

taken from one of my many Inhouse games with my friends' clan. Thanks a lot,
guys.
If Nevermores character model completely overlaps with the target (achievable

with items such as Phase boot or Lothars Edge), the target will receive 100% of the
damage from Requiem of Souls, which amounts of 15 spirits, each dealing 160
damage: the target receives 2400 damage, 1800 damage if magic resistance is
considered as well. This is more than enough to kill off literally any heroes in the
middle game, though it is quite rare that you will actually have the chance to deal
the full amount of damage. Nonetheless, Requiem of Souls is a potent skill that can
unleash total chaos and devastation, though it should not be skilled until
Necromastery is maxed out first.
Skill Build:
Level 2: Shadowraze
Level 3: Shadowraze/Necromastery
Level 4: Necromastery/Shadowraze
Level 5: Shadowraze/Necromastery
Level 6: Necromastery/Shadowraze
Level 7: Shadowraze
Level 9: Requiem of Souls/Stats
Level 10: Stats/Requiem of Souls
Level 12: Stats/Presence of the Dark Lord
Level 17-25: Stats
(Or max out Presence of the Dark Lord should Stats be taken between Level 12 and
15, Bold/colored font denotes my preferred build for Nevermore. The skillset after
the / indicates an interesting alternative build.)
Explanation:
Perhaps the alternative skill build Ive suggested between Levels 1-7 is more or less
quite unusual, compared to the conventional Necromastery, Raze, Raze,
Necromastery, Raze skill build. However, the alternative skill build can be useful if you
are soloing well (e.g. versus a weak solo such as Vengeful Spirit) so that you can
build on those souls in Necromastery and literally out-last-hit your opponent. In any
case, Shadowraze being Nevermores main nuke should be maxed out by Level 7 as it
is his main farming and ganking skill.
The reason why that Shadowraze is taken at both Level 2 and 3 is because it gives
you a decent nuke (75 damage at Level 1 is really just for some desperate last-hits)
and gives you the ability to score last hits when you are facing a nasty dual-lane or
annoying heroes such as Tinker or Viper. You can basically spam your razes till you
reach Level 4/5, fill up your souls in Necromastery, rune-whore (god do I hate this
phrase) once in a while and farm up the core items you need in the middle game.
It is hard to say when it is best to max out Presence of the Dark Lord, but I tend to
max it out when:
1. My team is playing aggressively and is winning in terms of towers/hero kills.
2. Ive decided to buy Stygian Desolator for my first DPS item (BKB does not really
count) and the -5 armour can really help.
3. Im playing a clan war and my team mates all have minus-armour abilities (Slarders
Amplify Damage, for example) and my -5 armour aura can really turn the tide of the
battle.
Nevermores position in a team:
Getting things like these first...
Is better than getting these first!
Unfortunately, Nevermore is not a DPS hero, unlike what most people think of
Nevermore. He is an AoE carry, his advantage over other carry heroes (such as
Phantom Assassin) being his insane farming speed and the +60 damage thanks to
Necromastery. Load Nevermore up with Satanic, Treads, Butterfly and all those
flashy items and give Phantom Assassin the same items. Nine times out of ten,
Phantom Assassin will win, assuming, of course, Nevermore does not use his Ultimate,
but any carries these days will likely farm a Black King Bar as one of their main items.
Now Im not saying that you leave the middle lane after you turn Level 7 and spend
the whole game trying to raze the hell out of your opponents. You should combine
gank with farm (from my experiences, around 25 % gank with 75 % farm) and try
farm your vital items before the 30th minute mark so that you have the necessary
means to unleash your fury in team battles. Once again, one must remember
Nevermore is all about his AoE damage, not his DPS.
How to Shadowraze Properly and Effectively as a Nevermore user:
Big thank you to Aughing @ Replays.Net for this image! As you can see, your X
Shadowraze is roughly about the same distance from you as your attack range. The
AoE for your 'Z' raze is almost at melee range and the AoE for your 'C' raze can be
taken as the distance between Nevermore (who's last-hitting a melee creep) and the
ranged creeps on the other side.
As you can see, the AoEs of Shadowraze can seem bigger than how you might have
imagined it-and technically if the target you are Shadowrazing is at exactly the 450
range mark, he will receive the damage of all three Shadowrazes. However, it is still
important as a Nevermore player to imagine the AoEs of your Shadowrazes a tad
smaller than they are in reality, so that you have that feel of the 'pin-point accuracy'
that is really required to land a nice, solid, accurate Shadowraze.
A popular strategy amongst many beginners, therefore, is to attack the target
first and then immediately press X. Most of the time, assuming the target is
slowed or stunned, the Shadowraze will hit. Z is relatively simple to hit as it is
literally at melee range, whilst C is simply 3 AoEs away from Nevermore. C is
possibly the hardest to aim out of the three Shadowrazes and a great deal of
practice is required to aim them properly.
There are some cases that really dont give you the chance to attack the target first
and you must use your instincts and your experience to aim those razes. I usually
right click on the ground closest to my target before I calculate the distance in my
head and decide whether to use Z, X or C.
In most cases, there are about 4 kinds of scenarios that may arise when you try
Shadowraze someone:
1. A stunner (e.g. Sven) comes in and stuns someone. You raze him twice, most
likely with your X and C razes (the 2 second stun doesnt really allow for all 3 of
your razes to hit) and hopefully with a couple of extra attacks, youve managed to
rack up a kill. This is the safest, and by far, the most common way of killing someone
with your Shadowrazes. This accounts for around 70 % of my kills with Nevermore.
Heres an example when my teammate Furion and Spectre (some sort of global
strategy there, once again one of Loda's creations) helps me gank the other's team's
main carry, Drow Ranger.
I was hiding in the Scourge forest when I told my teammate, Furion, to trap Drow
Ranger with his spell 'Sprout' so we can gank her. This was an Inhouse game that
wasn't particularly serious so there weren't too much wards around.
Boom comes in the Sprout...Drow Ranger is taken completely by surprise. I take my

position carefully and...
'X' and 'C', That's it. So easy, but do make sure that you get it right every time!
2. Youre retreating into the Fog of War (your opponents can no longer see you, for
that matter) and a bunch of enemy heroes are chasing after you. Because they cant
see you, you turn around and raze them (most likely C, X then Z) and they walk
right into your razes. Or your might cast your powerful Ultimate and they run right
into your Requiem of Souls.
This is called abusing the Fog of War (even though it is in fact perfectly legitimate
and forms interesting mindgames) and is mostly used when you have very little HP
left and you want to pull off a killassuming you know what youre doing. This
accounts for around 5% of my kills, but are satisfying in a way as youve literally
cheated deathand brought demise upon your unlucky opponent.
This example is taken from a test video by a very brilliant DotA player and movie
maker, Tews. Lets see how he manages to rack up a kill using Fog of War to his
advantage! (Notice his item build and the fact that Treant will probably have vision
of him very soon, so it is up to the Nevermore users reflexes to make the most out
of those few seconds when hes invisible to Treant).
He blinks and immediately casts C. See his reflexes? Practice makes perfect!
Boom comes in that X raze as well, even though you cant see it yet
And boom comes in the Z raze. An easy kill for Nevermore.

3. You managed to get a rune (haste, invisibility etc), but there are no allies around
and youre absolutely sure the guy youre killing doesnt have a stun on his back, or a
windwalk, or any mana. Lets just say Zeus who only has enough mana for a single
Lightning Bolt. You basically walk right up to him, or try sneak near him, and you raze
him and hopefully all 3 razes hit.
To be honest, this is risky game play because there are no allies to help you.
Nevermore is a fragile hero and in order for all 3 razes to hit he must be very close to
the target first. The main problem, of course, is to actually deal enough damage, as
the 3 razes only account for 675 damage and it is important to snuck in a couple of
attacks so you actually kill him.
Unlike a hero like Tinker who can just nuke the crap out of anyone, using
Nevermores nukes require patience and a cool head as a single miscalculation or
misclick can result in a miss, and the target gets away with red HP. This probably
accounts for 15 % of my kills with Nevermore, and most of those kills I garnered in
the past few months as Shadowraze takes time to master completely.
See how the great Nirvana.KuroKy did it! Hes one of my favourite DotA players and
this is taken from Kuroky the Movie by Say_43_Plz. KuroKy had just managed to kill
Sand King and Dirge thinks he can solo Nevermore. Of course, hes wrong.
KuroKy hits Dirge a couple more times and goes for the killer Shadowraze (C), but
Dirge just manages to heal himself with Soul Rip! See how much damage
Nevermores normal attacks and Shadowraze do? Dirge is quite a beefy hero, but
when hes up against Nevermore, hes out of HP in no time. Can KuroKy rack up a
kill?
And all it took KuroKy was another raze, this time the X, and Dirge falls victim to
Nevermore once again.
4.
A hero with nearly no HP turns invisible and thanks to the fact your Shadowrazes can
actually hit invisible units, you try raze where hes going to be in a few seconds and
hopefully, you pull it off. What I define as blind raze is not someone running into the
fog for less than a second and having pressed x already, I press c and magically
my imbaness allows me to hit the guy who tried sneaking into the fog of war.
A blind raze is when the target has literally vanished off the map for more than three
seconds and all youve got is your instinct. An experienced player will most likely
know where you will target your blind razes and will go the opposite way and landing
a blind raze is really the same as landing a no-scope with an AWP in CS: in most
cases, its about 40 % luck and 60 % map awareness.
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This is taken from one of Sogovegetas DotA videos, Nevermore the Dark Knight
Returns. Hes one of the most inspirational players out there and this is probably
one of the best, actual blind razes Ive seen anyone do. He spots Clinkz with only
2/3 HP and he probably knows that the next couple of seconds will probably end up
in his DotA video! (AXAXA)
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He lands a couple of hits on Clinkz and as you can see, Nevermores attacks are
very powerful during the Middle game. He tries to Shadowraze but since the
direction wasnt quite right
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He cancels it, saving him 75 mana and some embarrassment. But what about
Clinkz?
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There we go! He lands a good solid X raze on Clinkz and hes almost dead. But then,
he Windwalks.
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In most cases, Clinkz would probably have gone path A, so he razes there with C
and obviously, no ones dead. But hes go that Kelens Dagger of his, plus his Z raze
which he cancelled earlier
size d 580x 268.
And voila! Shadowraze gets in just in time. A testament to Sogovegetas amazing

blind razes and to some extent, luck!
The hardest razes to land, in my opinion, are in fact not the so called blind razes
but ones that require some very precise clicking. As I said before, Shadowrazes
require pinpoint accuracy to land (even though there is a small AoE with each raze)
and it is important that you understand how to face your opponent properly so you
can hit them with the correct corresponding raze.
So you may askwhat do I mean by precise clicking?

It is important to do this as fast as possible as multiple adjustments can result in
your opponent getting away (which is always annoying) and experience, plus
practice, would eventually increases your chances of landing such razes drastically.
It is still quite difficult for me, to this day, to land such razes and I would think my
accuracy in such razes would be around 50% -- assuming I do not cancel it with
Stop and readjust myself. Sometimes, a single click could decide whether you land
yourself a kill or end up dead. Using the Move command on Nevermore and adjust
your direction is a bread and butter skill for every Nevermore user.
I was soloing mid against Morphling. I managed to get a couple of hits plus two of
my Level 4 Shadowrazes on him and he gets away with only a tiny bit of HP left. I
didn't YET have mana for another raze and he turned on Morph to stay alive, and it
wasn't when he reached the runed spot, did he have just enough mana for a
Waveform.
The first diagram shows a variety of places a Nevermore player might click to point
Nevermore at the right direction. The 'X' marks the various spots where one should
NOT click because that will position Nevermore towards the wrong way. Try click on
the circle around the letter 'A' (which is what I did) and the 'C' raze manages to just
hit Morphling and secure a kill in true Shadow Fiend style.
It is virtually impossible to list every scenario where precise clicking is

required, but here are a couple of hints:
1. Never actually click on your target. Instead click on the ground right next to
the target.
2. If theres something between you and your target (for example, trees, hills
etc.) never try click on the target or anything around it. Instead, click on the
foot on the obstacle that enables you to line yourself up with the target
(Nevermore-Foot of the Obstacle-Enemy Target).
Last but not least :
Therere two more things that need to be talked over about ShadowrazesCanceling
your Shadowrazes and Quick-Raze. Mastering those two elements can improve your
game in ways you cannot imagine, just like how mastering Quickswitching and
Quickscoping can give your AWP game a real boost in CS.
Shadowraze takes around 0.5 seconds to cast and sometimes due to unforeseen
reasons, your razes will miss once in a while. Canceling Shadowrazes is simple
before the cast animation of Shadowraze finishes (Nevermore raising his hands to
deliver a raze) and raze comes out, you press the S or Stop key and this means
Nevermore stops everything he was doing.
A typical raze sequence (okay, maybe it was a bit broken) showing me doing the 'Z'
and 'X' razes before I 'stop' the 'C' raze.
Fluid motion is the key here. Great concentration is required for you to actually stop
that raze in time and a lot of the time, rapid reaction time is very important. Try
practicing cancelling your razes when youre boredjust create a single player game
and try feel that delicate timing of Nevermores casting animation. The more your
practice, the more fluid your gameplay will be. This also applies to Nevermores
Ultimate, and unlike Sand Kings Ultimate, Nevermores can be Stopped an unlimited
amount of times. Use the S key to throw off your opponents patterns and tempo!
Quick-raze is something that a lot of players havent really heard of, but its
something that every experienced player will always do. This is exceptionally useful if
the stun on the target is about to almost wear off, or the target is merely slowed by
Shadow Strike, etc. Youre assuming that your opponent is going to travel in a
straight line for the next 1.5 seconds and what you basically do is use your X and
C razes (or your Z and X razes for that matter) in rapid succession. Ive come to
realize that if one simply pressed X then C, Nevermore will actually stand still for
about 0.2 seconds after the initial raze before he casts the next raze.
Example of a series of typical 'Slow Razes'...Compare with the 'Fast Razes' down
below.
See the difference? It's pretty obvious, isn't it? (By the way this was a solo-mid 1v1
against my clanmate-has nothing to do with me razing Morphling in the previous
example!)
Now heres the trick: press X twice (or more times) then C twice (or more times)
and you will find that the two razes will actually come out faster than if you just
clicked once. This is because Nevermore delivers his raze when his hands are in the
airtheres an animation of his hands coming back down that that corresponds to
that 0.2 second delay.
Pressing the C key twice is a bit like using S key except youre cancelling out his
after-animation (thats how I try describe it). Technically, you can press X then
press S immediately after Nevermore delivers the raze, but its just that much safer
if you just press X twice then C twice, because with S youre risking cancelling
that raze.
Part Two: Taking the Solo

Starting Item Builds (Solo lane or Not):
One of the more popular items builds. This is the all-rounder, the build that gives
Nevermore plenty of heals (against orb-walkers or heavy nukers alike), plenty of
damage, and +2 to every stat. The only problem about this build is that youre rather
fragile and you might consider replacing the Slippers of Agility with Gauntlets of
Strengthif you prefer. I prefer Slippers because they really help with your last-hits.
My favourite item build, especially for a mid solo Nevermore. Gives plenty of stats,
good starting damage and ample healassuming your last-hits are adequate. The
two circlets give you the flexibility to change them into either Wraith Bands or
Bracers. I like this build because it is so flexible and solid to begin with.
This is the build that many experienced players opt for when playing against black
shops (A badly translated Chinese phrase, meaning playing against a host whose
Sentinel allies are sitting in the same Internet Cafe or are talking via voice chat such
as Ventrilo) or simply trying to show off against newcomers.
This build is absolutely superb for pubs but is quite rare in Clan Wars unless youre
confident enough about your last hits to rush for a bottle (obviously you wont be
buying the chicken). Since you have 153 gold left, you can easily last-hit a bottle
before you turn Level 4 and this build enables you to get a Magic Wand ASAP.
Recommended for pubs and pubs only! Cheap, efficient and you dont have to rely on
your allies for the courier as it is VERY important for Nevermore to have a courier to
rely on.
A build Nevermore should definitely acquire when soloing mid versus a hero like
Huskar or Viper, or any annoying orb-walkers for that matter. The problem about
soloing against orb-walkers is that they will completely out last-hit you (assuming
they know what theyre doing) before you turn Level 3 and things wouldnt get much
easier even then. Plenty of heal in the form of tangos (Not salves) are needed and
the four Ironwood Branches give plenty of Stats. If youre in a pub game and no
ones buying the chicken (and unfortunately youre soloing mid versus an orb-walker),
forget about one of the Ironwoods and buy a courier. A chicken will go a long way.
AAnother one of my favourite item builds; this one is quite similar to the second item
build except Ive replaced one of the Circlets with an Ironwood Branch and a Salve.
To be honest, I think this is the BEST item build for Nevermore because it is so wellbalancedsufficient heal, adequate Stats and 3 Ironwoods to be turned into your
Magic Wand later on. This is the recommended build for any Inhouse or Clan Wars
and from my experiences, it is definitely the safest build for Nevermore, but it does
require relatively good last-hit skills as this build is a tad lacking in terms of starting
damage.
Or
OR
Those are probably the item builds most players back in the days have affiliated
themselves with since Nevermore was first discovered from the list of forgotten
heroes by the great SK.Loda in version 6.41. To be honest, I am not really fond of
these builds because nowadays, getting a Magic Wand is far more important than
Wraith BAnds/Bracers and the lavish amount of heals isnt really necessary for a hero
who would rush for a Bottle. I would, however, recommend the 1st and 3rd build,
especially the 1st, if youre soloing mid versus an experienced Warlock player. The
tangos really help with Warlocks harassment and the Clarity gives you enough mana
to cast those razes that are necessary for you to scrape those last hits. More
information about soloing mid later on.
Unfortunately, this is the most common starting item I see many Nevermore players
in pub games begin with, and eight-times out of ten they get completely out-laned
and end up with a horrible game. Let me tell you why its not very wise to start off
with a Bottle:
1. It doesnt give you any Stats that are vital to your last hits.
2. Considering its hefty price, the Bottle really doesnt heal much. A lot of the time
you will end up trying to heal your HP and the extra Mana heal goes to waste
because you only have Level 1 Shadowraze.
3. If you fail to secure that first rune that pops out, the all you have with you is an
Empty Bottle. Your opponent will likely try grabbing the first rune and youre taking
chances by guessing what side of the map the rune is locatedunless youre
maphacking, of course.
Im not saying that it is totally stupid to start off with just a Bottle, but there are
only a few heroes in DotA that can benefit from starting off with just a Bottle
Magnus being a very exceptional example. It is just so much better playing it safe
and getting that Bottle when it matters the mostafter your Shadowrazes and
Necromastery have been levelled up and youre ready to do some ganking. After all,
theres a reason why Icefrog put tangos and Ironwoods out there, right?
Dealing with your lane opponent (assuming youre soloing mid):
Now that youve bought your starting items, its time to start laning. I believe that in
80% of all Clan Wars and 95% of all pub games, it is wise for Nevermore to take the
solo lane. He doesnt have a stun and is quite fragile in the early game, and his
abilities require fast leveling to be 100% effective. Sometimes, you will have to solo
with someone in another lane or take the top or bottom solothis can sometimes be
an effective strategy in Clan Wars, though it is rarely seen in pubs as people
sometimes squabble over who should take the solo.
It is important to know how to creep-block. Creep blocking is important while
soloing mid because youre slowing down your creeps so that you gain that vision
advantagemore than half of the time your opponent cannot actually see you as
hes in the river. This means he cant see the pattern of your last hits and this can
lead to a good game as Nevermore with sufficient last hits is a very potent force
later on. I will not describe creep-blocking in too much detail heresimply maneuver
your hero in front of the advancing creeps so theyre forced to go around you, but
before they do, you move again so theyre constantly slowed. In other words, youre
moving in a zigzag pattern.
Since Nevermore is such a glass cannon in the early game, it is important to do some
warding so you don't get ganked (or get ganked as much). In most Clan Wars and
Inhouse Games, you probably wouldn't be the one buying the wards, but you will still
have to plant them yourself. Of course in Pubs it is rare that anyone will buy wards
at all so definitely buy those wards yourself. It's so easy to farm the extra 200 gold
back, but it can be really hard for a Nevermore who died 5 times in ten minutes to
salvage his game.
No matter how well you creep-block, however, youre eventually going to have to
face up to that opponent whos also trying to solo and out-lane you. In DotA, there
are only a handful of heroes who solo mid constantly and here I will try give detailed
explanations of those potential enemies and how to counter themincluding various
dual lanes.
-vsShow
Despite the fact Admiral is a melee hero, if played well he can pose a serious
threat and he may even out-lane you if you don't play carefully enough. The
problem is how to overcome his advantage in terms of lasthits, because his
Tidebringer gives him a big AoE cleave and extra damage, which means he can
harass you and score last hits at the same time.
My advice would be to scrape as many last hits as possible before you hit Level 3,
and when you do have your Level 2 Shadowrazes, start using them to harass AND
get last hits at the same time, preferably when you see Admiral coming forward to
score his last hits. Make sure that you have enough HP to stave off an occasional
Torrent because if he manages to land a Torrent and you only have about 100 HP
left, you're pretty much dead. Otherwise, Nevermore will probably land a slight
advantage over Admiral, as long as your last-hits are reasonably solid.
-vsShow
Beastmasters potency as a solo is mainly due to his ability to harass, his

summoning and his devastating Ultimate. His Wild Axes deal considerable amounts
of damage and have 1300 range, while his Quilbeast summoning slows Nevermore
down considerably and Nevermore will find it difficult to Shadowraze Beastmaster
as when a hero is slowed; his turning speed is noticeably slowed as well.
Beastmaster will most likely try stick with you at melee range so that it is
impossible to try and land all 3 razes on him. The presence of his other summoning,
Hawk, makes it difficult for you to take the runes. With enough mana, HP and his
summoning, a Level 6 Beastmaster easily outclasses the Level 6 Nevermore in a 1on-1 situation.
Most of the strategies Nevermore employ to lane against Admiral also apply to
Beastmaster. It is of utmost importance that Nevermore establish lane dominance
early on. Nevermore does have an easier time soloing against Beastmaster during
the first 3 Levels than Admiral, and it is important that you normal attack
Beastmaster whenever possible so he's forced to regenerate his HP.
Unfortunately, there are no real counters for his Hawk other than warding and
keeping a close eye on Beastmaster, and soloing versus Beastmaster can be very
challenging indeed, especially if he knows how to play Nevermore himself!
-vsShow
Pudges potency as a solo hero is mainly due to his ability to keep himself up close
and personal with his ability Rot whilst doing considerable damage in the process.
For a fragile hero like Nevermore, should Pudge manage to get up close and
personal with you, you are pretty much dead. His Meat Hooks are not actually as
dangerous as they seem but can prove dangerous, especially in a psychological
way as no one wants to be hooked to their doom.
Assuming Nevermore plays well, however, it is very difficult for Pudge to actually
get any sort of edge over Nevermore, as long as Nevermore does not get killed. It
is very important that Nevermore beats Pudge in the race for creep-blocking, as
the last thing Nevermore wants is Pudge lurking in the darkness, waiting for you to
come within reach of his meat hook. It is important that Nevermore knows where
Pudge is and even more important that Nevermore keep some sort of obstacle
between himself and Pudgecreeps, for example. Nevermore can easily out last-hit
Pudge, provided you have some sound last-hitting skills.
Last, but not least, be very careful when youre going for the runes. If Pudge finds
you and manages to Hook you, theres no doubt that youre just going to end up
as food.
-vsShow
Dwarven Sniper when used correctly, can be incredibly annoying and a nightmare
to lane against. Not only does he have the fastest missile speed of all ranged
heroes in DotA, but he has a passive that gives him bonus damage and a ministun
once in a while, adding to your misery. The Presence of his Ultimate means that
one must think twice before entering a fight with Dwarven Sniper, because if
Nevermore loses, he will most definitely die from Assassinate.
The only problem with Dwarven Sniper, however, is that he somewhat shares
Nevermores problems: fragile HP and very low starting damage. Out-laning
Dwarven Sniper requires very sound last-hitting skills and a lot of practice, as
Dwarven Snipers missile speed is incredibly fast and it is up to individual lasthitting skills to determine who will eventually have that edge after Level 3. The
good thing, however, is that while even if your last-hits do go a bit downhill, you
still have your Shadowrazes to rely on and to harass/last hit with, whereas if
Dwarven Sniper doesnt out last-hit you completely, then his lack of a spammable
nuke would mean he would get out-laned very quickly.

I do believe that Nevermore does have an edge over Dwarven Sniper, assuming
youre VERY careful with your last-hits. Against Dwarven Sniper, I would
recommend the moving-around-then-last-hit strategy instead of holding your finger
on the S key and try get your last hits that way, because that leaves you
vulnerable to Dwarven Snipers constant harassment. Sniper will get a bit more
annoying if he has Shrapnel, but your Shadowrazes will kick in and his lack of a
spammable AoE nuke will be his downfall. Likewise, clarities arent really an option
because it is easily interrupted.
-vsShow
Broodmother can be a nightmare to solo against. The main differences between

Broodmother and other melee solo-mid heroes (such as Admiral) is that she has her
Webs which allow her to not only move faster but stay invisible for the whole time,
which means it is very hard for Nevermore to figure out her pattern and adjust
ones last-hitting strategies correspondingly. Broodmother has a spammable nuke
that can cause problems later on, and if she ever considers maxing out
Incapacitating Bite first, then Nevermore will be in some very serious trouble. The
presence of her Ultimate means that a head-on fight is virtually suicide.
The key to soloing against Broodmother is making sure that (1) she actually does
solo mid (as in some Clan Wars and Inhouse games she does solo the side-lanes)
and (2) if she does solo mid, then Sentry Wards are a must.
What Broodmother will do, however, is try scrape last hits with her Spawned
Spiderlings and when you go for the runes, she starts pushing your tower. You
might consider buying a TP if your tower is getting pushed too hard. On the other
hand, she might have maxed out Incapacitating Bite first (rarely seen but VERY
effective versus Nevermore) and it is up to you to avoid Broodmother at all costs
and use your razes to keep her HP at a relatively low level, as Broodmother can
easily kill you with her Ultimate even if youre fighting her right under your tower.
Broodmother is probably one of deadliest enemies Nevermore will solo against and a
great deal of skill and a cool head is required to pull it off.
-vsShow
Thanks to his version 6.66 buff (notice the pun), Doom Bringer has become one of
the most popular heroes out there and due to his semi-carry, semi-gank role, he's
often placed as a solo. And the vast majority of the time, he's going to solo mid. A
lot of people say that Nevermore gets easily outlaned by Doom, to the extent that
there was a huge forum war on Crowley's Guide to Doom on who's going to have
the advantage in the 1-v-1 situation. If you have the time you can try read all of
the posts (including the flaming and my intervention which somehow ended up with
a reference to one of my favourite animes), but for those who don't, here's a
couple of tips to make your life easier.
Doom has high starting damage which means last-hitting for him is a piece of cake.
He has Devour, which means he can rush that Bottle ASAP and grab the runes
before you can. His Level-Death ability is quite spammable and if used right is
probably on-par with Shadowraze. He's probably going to try out-last-hit you
completely, wait till you're Level 5 (and obviously by then, thanks to the exp gap
he will be Level 6), then use the Level-Death plus Doom combo to kill you off. So
how do you stop him?
First of all, pick up some stats to help with your last-hits. Doom isn't going to spam
Level-Death till you're Level 5 (since it only does the extra damage if you're Level
5) so it's highly likely that your last-hitting skills will decide who's going to come
out on top. He will most likely out last-hit you completely when you're Level 1, so
when you turn Level 2, spam your Level 1 Shadowraze to scrape as many last-hits
as possible. Solid Shadowrazes are the key here. Don't bother trying to kill him, but
do harass as much as you can and definetely rush for that Bottle. The one who
gets to the runes first has the initiative. So definetely train up on your last hits.
Clarities aren't really an option since he can simply interrupt it with Level-Death
and you really can't stay back from the creeps otherwise the exp-gap is going to
stretch a lot.
Hopefully, he hasn't out-last-hit you completely and by now, both Doom and
Nevermore are Level 5. Now comes the tricky bit. He will start spamming his LevelDeath and not only do you have to make sure you heal up that HP ASAP, but also
that you harass him back with at least 1 or 2 Shadowrazes. This is really a battle
of the nukes. Abuse the Fog of War and really try get inside the guy using Doom's
mentality and think "Hmm, is he coming towards me to get a last-hit, or is he trying
to nuke me?". This will help you to get those two Shadowrazes in and keep Doom's
HP on-par with yours. Once Doom gets his Ulti, avoid him unless you're sure he
doesn't have enough mana. Remember, Doom is much easier to play than
Nevermore and his skills are point-and-click types, so definetely be careful of his
nukes. Honestly, if both players are about the same strength (and both are
reasonably decent DotA players), the situation is about even. It's quite challenging
to play, especially for Nevermore, and Doom will continue to be a major threat
throughout the game.
-vsShow
Thanks to the latest Hero changes, Nerubian Assassins Spiked Carapace ability has
been replaced by Urna Swarm, which means Nerubian Assassin now has a
considerable advantage in soloing as his Scarabs can now scout for runes. His
mana burn can easily destroy your mana pool and it is difficult to kill him as he will
always have that Impale to count on. In most cases, Nerubian Assassin will likely
put 1 point in Urna Swarm, 1 point in Mana Burn and max out Impale ASAP.
Nerubian Assassin should not be underestimated as a solo.
Once again, the trick to out-laning Nerubian Assassin will be getting in some solid
last-hits and make sure that you farm that Bottle as early as possible. Nerubian
Assassin will be spamming his Mana Burn a lot, so Raze him whenever you can and
try your best to snuck in some last-hits with that Raze too. Your job as the solo is
to make sure that Nerubian Assassin doesnt level up too quickly and doesnt grab
all the runes, because Nerubian Assassin would mostly likely target your allies in
the side lanes rather than taking the risk of killing you by himself. Warding and miss
calls can help your Allies a lot.
-vsShow
If theres one hero in DotA who can out solo Nevermore completely, that hero has
got to be Viper. Viper's starting damage is quite high compared to Nevermores, so
he already has that last-hit advantage. His missile speed is equal, if not faster
than Nevermores and his Poison Attack deals a lot of damage and is easily
spammable if combined with hit-and-run. Nethertoxin gives Viper a huge amount of
extra damage, and his Ultimate is simply deadly. In fact, whenever I see one of my
opponents pick Nevermore, I would often pick Viper in response and I have won
the vast majority (around 95%) of such encounters!
Viper does have his weakness though. He doesnt have any kind of nukes and Viper
also lacks a stun, which means you can easily TP away (assuming you have
enough HP to withstand at least 4 hits from him before you TP away) if he ever
tries to kill you. It is important in the Nevermore versus Viper scenario to learn how
to scrape last hits with your Level 1 and 2 Shadowrazes. Viper will harass you
constantly with his Poison Attacks and he will most likely be very aggressive when
it comes to snatching last-hits, so definitely load up on Tangos so that your HP
stays at a relatively high level and that Vipers Nethertoxin doesnt kick in.
In the vast majority of cases, Viper will probably hit Level 6 before you do, and you
must be extra-careful! Assuming Nevermore and Viper have the same amount of
HP, Viper will come out as the winner in 85 % of head-on encounters. Make sure
that you know where EXACTLY Viper is when you try scout for runes, because if
Viper gets his hands on Nevermore in a 1v1 situation without any Allies, Viper will
most likely win. Buy a TP!
-vsShow
Tinker is probably one of Nevermores most renowned archenemies (that includes

Viper and Broodmother) because the two heroes share quite a lot in common,
ability-wise and strategy-wise. Both heroes rely a lot on their nukes, and both
heroes will mostly likely buy Boots of Travel as their first major item. However,
while Tinker is a Disabler-Carry, Nevermore is an AoE-Carry. It can be hard for
some beginners to play this particular scenario.
As I said before, both Nevermore and Tinker rely a lot upon their nukes, and the
main problem for Nevermore is that the Laser + Missile combo will beat his two
Shadowrazes any day. Tinker will likely harass you with an occasional Laser here
and there and once your HP drops beneath a certain level, he will simply nuke you
to death. Thus to counter Tinker, know Tinker! I know from memory that Tinkers
Level 4 Nukes correspond to 550 points of total damage so whenever my HP drops
beneath that, I will always try heal up or go back to base. I play Tinker a lot as
well, so I know the exact knick-knacks of his nukes. Sometimes, the best way to
counter a hero is to play that hero a lot, so you know how that hero works.
The advantage of Shadowraze is that it costs far less Mana than any other nuke in
the game and if you can grab the runes before Tinker does, then Tinker will have a
very hard time soloing you afterwards. With Tinker, its all about getting those
nukes in and grabbing those runes. If Nevermore manages to get to those runes
before he does, Tinker will be at a disadvantage. Mind you, Nevermores 3
Shadowrazes do far more damage than Tinkers Laser + Missile Combo, so if you
manage to somehow sneak in 3 Shadowrazes, killing Tinker will be a piece of cake.
-vsShow
It is becoming more and more common for Lion to take the solo nowadays. Lion can
be quite annoying to solo against, mainly due to his Impale + Mana Drain combo
and Lion can do massive amounts of damage once he hits Level 6 and gets his
Ultimate. Lion does have quite an easy time last hitting versus Nevermore and he
will constantly harass you with his Impale + Mana Drain combo until you HP falls so
low that he can nuke you straight away when he hits Level 6.
Once again, last-hitting is the key here. Make sure you really pay attention to how
Lion last hits, then adjust your last-hitting patterns to counter that of Lions. Lion
will most likely start harassing you when you turn Level 3: he will Impale you, then
immediately cast Mana Drain. What I tend to do in this situation, if he tries to do
the Impale + Mana Drain combo, I will simply Shadowraze him (usually my X and C
razes) and a fragile hero like Lion will lose almost half of his HP if I manage to snuck
in some normal attacks as well. Trust me, Ive even gotten first blood this way!
Just grab those runes, and youll have an advantage over him.
-vsShow
I think Medusa is a hero that many Nevermore players find extremely annoying to
solo against (least that's what soloing against Medusa is like for me). The main
problem lies in her Ability, Mystic Snake, which combines both harassment with
mana-steal. It's very easy to score last-hits with Medusa and her Mana Shield
gives her quite a lot of protection, even in the early game.
I would say that it is fair to apply the principles of soloing against Lion onto
Medusa. Whenever she comes forward and casts Mystic Snake, unload all your
Shadowrazes on her and try out-nuke her. Definetely buy a lot of regeneration and
do watch out for your last hits, because you would want that Bottle ASAP and
have the runes under your control. If she gets to the runes before you, you're in
some real trouble.
-vsShow
Ive decided to list Harbinger, the Obsidian Destroyer as well because should you
find him on the opposing team, theres a very good chance that youll be soloing
mid versus him. Harbinger, if played properly, is a dangerous foe for Nevermore. His
main weapon lie in his ability, Astral Imprisonment, and his strategy would be to
spam Astral Imprisonment (especially when youre trying to get those precious last
hits early on) and basically snatch away those last hits and precious points of
Mana from you. His passive aura, Essence Aura gives him a huge mana pool and if
you arent careful enough, he can nuke you right away with his Ultimate, Sanitys
Eclipse.
To be honest, theres not much you can do when it comes to soloing against
Harbinger. My advice would be using your Shadowrazes to scrap some last hits and
try to outlast him in the race for better creep stats because once you have Bottle
and Level 3 Shadowraze, then youre at an advantage. It is so important that you
have some VERY solid last-hitting skills (I say this for a lot of heroes, but its
particularly important when youre soloing someone as annoying as Harbinger) and
really try getting those last-hits and denies in.
You have to be VERY careful when you see Harbinger turn Level 6, because by
then he would likely have a lot more Intelligence points than you do, and a couple
of normal attacks + Sanitys Eclipse can potentially lead to an easy kill for
Harbinger. Just be careful, get those Shadowrazes in and once you start grabbing
those runes, Harbingers lack of a spammable AoE skill will be his downfall.
* * *
It is virtually impossible for me to list every single hero here, but I am sure that those
principles will more or less apply to every single hero out there. There are some
heroes that you might solo against but I didnt bother to list, nukers such as Queen
of Pain and Lich and orb-walkers such as Drow Ranger and Silencer. Ive decided to
list the heroes that I had the most trouble soloing against.But see how it goes. Play
as much as you can and learn the tricks-of-the-trade for each and every hero you
will solo against. Nevermore is a brilliant solo and if played well is almost unstoppable
when it comes to soloing mid.
Dual Lanes
+
Occasionally in Clan Wars and some Inhouse Games, you will find your opponent have
decided to form a dual lane such as the 2 examples above (the Sand King + Lina
combo is getting quite rare nowadays, but is very commonly seen back in version
6.48) because they can basically dominate a lane and make it risky for you to try
and grab some last hits.
Fortunately, Nevermore is one of the few heroes in DotA who has the ability to face
up to a dual-lane and still have a decent game. I would suggest that if you face a
dual lane, you can either try switch lanes with your Allies (which is always the best
option) or use your C raze or scrape a living.
In most dual-lane combos, there would be an initiator (for example, Crystal Maiden
will Frostbite you first before Admiral follows up with a Torrent, so Crystal Maiden is
the initiator) and your job as the solo is to keep a safe distance from the initiator at
all costs, as if he gets his hands on you, youre pretty much dead. Nevermore really
doesnt have enough HP to withstand a combo and still come out on top. My
principles will apply to tri-lanes as well, except in that case you have to extracareful when it comes to calculating your distance.
Part Three: Unleashing Havoc

Ive decided to combine Nevermores Middle Game strategies with his various item
builds, as the situation in-game can directly influence what items hes eventually
going to get or what items hes going to get first. So lets get started with his earlygame items.
Early Game Items
OR
Everything here is pretty much self explanatory.
The Bottle is important for some quick heals and grabbing the rune.
Boots of Speed need no real explanation.
Since Nevermore will be doing a lot of ganking, a Magic Wand can help you pull
off some ridiculously awesome escapes, or give you that little bit of Mana for
that one last raze. A Magic Wand is a MUST for Nevermore.
Always keep a TP scroll with you at all times, so you can either help you Allies
defend a tower, or farm in an empty lane (the latter part is exceptionally
important for Nevermore as he needs a lot of farm before he becomes effective
in the Middle Game).
Personally, I prefer Wraith Bands over Bracers because I feel that if you do get
ganked by 3 heroes, getting Bracers makes no difference to getting Wraith
Bands. Wraith Bands help you get last hits and gives you a lot more damage. A
lot of people WILL disagree with me on this, so get Bracers if you want. In fact
getting Bracers is most probably the safest option out of the two, but I guess
it just boils down to personal preference.
Middle Game Items:
OR
Plus the items you already have:
OR
Boots of Travel, Black King Bar and Kelens Dagger are probably the most common
mid-game items you will see on Nevermore. On the other hand, Power Treads + Black
King Bar and Manta Style is a newer build which is more focused on clan wars where
teammate support is a lot better than that of pubs, and Nevermore is seen more as
an AoE hero than a carry.

Boots of Travel gives him plenty of speed and much more farm, Black King Bar gives
him magic invulnerability for a certain period of time and Kelens Dagger can be used
as an escape mechanism, or used offensively as a blink to land your Ultimate right in
the centre of a team battle. This is by far the most common build that I use with
Nevermore, and perhaps it is the most common one out there as well.
Perhaps the reason why that you see Power Treads being opted instead of Boots of
Travel in clan wars is probably due to the ever-changing pace of the game.
Nevermore will probably take up to 12-15 minutes to farm a Boots of Travel in a
standard clan war game, and Boots of Travel is really an utility item. The real
difference between clan war and pub gameplay for Nevermore is that in a clan war,
Nevermore will probably spend slightly more time doing ganks and participating in
those small 2v2, 3v3 fights than just taking the time farming. Power Treads is cheap,
efficient and contributes to Manta Style as well. Black King Bar is ABSOLUTELY
neccessary in this build. To be quite honest, this build is not that optimum for your
average pub game, since this build is an AoE build, rather than being carry-oriented.
There are a couple of alternative builds out there, such as:
Sometimes used when your games not going so well and you need BKB first, but the
game does turn around after you get your BKB and a Kelens Dagger seals off the
deal, so to speak. To be honest, I dont really like this build because Dagger is most
effective before the 30th minute mark, and most of the time its probably better to
leave Dagger out of the build because its not as effective as before. I would much
rather prefer this build especially when I play more serious games with my
friends/clan mates.
The next two builds are the build you will see in a lot of professional replays:
OR
This build is a very safe build. It gives you a lot of DPS and the BKB ensures that
nothing gets in the way of casting your Ultimate or simply carving some serious
damage. The only problem is that a lot of the time you have to rely on your
teammates to stun your opponents so that you can calmly walk in, activate BKB and
cast your Ultimate. It is by far the safest build for Nevermore and possibly the most
boring, but is probably a build most Nevermore player opt in most
professional/serious matches.
Whenever the games not really going your way (say you get ganked a lot) then by
using this build youre ensuring that youre doing your part in team battles.
Everythings pretty much self explanatory and every Nevermore player will eventually
have to buy BKB. Try getting Boots of Travel + BKB before the 22nd minute mark (if
your teams winning) and try aim for a 20 minute BKB if your teams at a
disadvantage. And one final thing: if you cant or you couldnt farm a Boots of Travel
in under 18 minutes, get Power Treads instead. Its cheaper, gives you a lot of Stats
and you can push for that eventual BKB sooner.
I really dont recommend this build. Spending your first 2150 gold on an item that
only gives you blink, in my opinion, isnt really worth it at all. You might then ask
then why do you get Dagger after you get Boots of Travel?
The reasoning is simple. After you get Boots of Travel, your ability to farm increases
a thousand-fold and it doesnt really take that long before you can quickly farm
yourself a Dagger and really start ganking and do your part in team battles. An
experienced Nevermore player can easily farm a Dagger in 5 minutes and getting
Boots of Travel first is a safer option.
If you choose to get Kelens Dagger first, however, youre taking a risk because its
going to take you the same amount of time that youve spent on farming the Dagger
to farm Boots of Travel, and if you dont rack up those kills and get your money
back, then whats the point of getting Dagger first? Secondly, a Nevermore with
Dagger probably has the same effect in battle as Queen of Pain and its probably
much better to do what Nevermore is best at: using his AoE abilities in team battles,
rather than trying to chase someone down individually and get ganked in the
process. Thats the job for Queen of Pain and Storm Spirit, not Nevermore.
If you ever plan on using this build, make sure that (1) you have the reflexes to
maximize the effect of Dagger and (2) you have some VERY cooperative teammates,
preferably clan mates or friends. Its an interesting, sometimes exhilarating build to
try out (since youre in the middle of action all the time), but if you miscalculate and
you blink in, nine times out of ten you wont blink back out again.
What about Lothars Edge?
-vsLothars Edge used to be one of my favourite items for Nevermore, but its usefulness
is decreasing steadily and while it remains a decent choice in pub games, Lothars
Edge is quite rarely seen in Clan Wars or the vast majority of Inhouse Games (though
I have seen MiseRy- going for Lothars Edge once in a while when he uses
Nevermore). I hardly ever go for Lothars Edge nowadays. Now why is that?
One: Kelens Dagger gives you the initiative. If you have Lothars Edge and you try
land a good Ultimate midst a team battle, you have to Windwalk in firstand if your
opponents get Dust or Sentry Wards, youre very vulnerable (even if you have BKB).
With Kelens Dagger, you can stay well back and blink-ulti when you see the time is
right (most likely after all those mass stuns have all been casted, such as
Tidehunters Ravage).
Two: To some extent, if the player has enough reflexes, Kelens Dagger is far more
useful as an escape mechanism compared to Lothars Edge (assuming your opponents
are decent enough to buy Dust against you). You might ask: But Kelens Dagger
cant be used three seconds after you get attacked! That is true. But whats the
point of Windwalking away if they can see you with Dust and you die anyway?
Three: Kelens Dagger is far cheaper compared to Lothars Edge, and I would much
rather prefer getting Kelens Dagger and almost a Boots of Travel than just Lothars
Edge. In fact, I would even prefer BKB over Lothars Edge. Sure, Lothars Edge gives
you a way of escape. But with Kelens Dagger and BKB, you can actually do
something to change how the game is going and really contribute to team battles.
Hint: Lothars Edge does work wonders in pubs, so if you can farm it in less than 16
minutes, then by all means do so! The extra DPS really helps in most cases and most
pub players are too lazy to buy Dust. You will find, however, that the better you
opponents are, the more pointless it becomes to buy Lothars Edge. Thats just my
opinion.
So if you ever consider buying Lothars Edge as one of your items, get it ASAP!
OR
Try getting Lothars in any of those two ordersthe BKB really helps when you try
pull off a good Ultimate. Lothars does give you a more aggressive early-mid game,
which is why it is so popular in pubs.
So When Should I Expect Myself to Get Those Items?

Since every games different, it is hard to say when someone would expect himself
to farm Nevermore those items. Ive managed to get Lothars Edge, BKB and Boots of
Travel in less than 23 minutes and in another game I only managed to get Boots of
Travel + BKB by the 30th minute mark.
As a general rule of thumb, though, in a normal game (there isnt really that much
ganking, you havent died a lot etc), one would expect Nevermore to have Boots of
Travel, Dagger and BKB by AT LEAST the 30th minute mark. I think it is fair to say
that if you cant farm them quick enough, then you wouldnt be as effective as you
will be in team battles because team battles are a frequent occurrence after the
30th minute mark. So work on those last hits, learn how to combine farm with a bit
of gank and soon youll be able to farm those items in no time.
Try get at least 150 last-hits by the 30th minute mark and at least 250-300 by the 1
hour mark. I've seen many players to a lot more than this and do I think that this is a
reasonable amount of farm for a Nevermore player. Don't rush yourself too much on
the first try though, and definitely DON'T overfarm.
Nevermores Role in Team Battles:
It is virtually impossible to list every scenario here, but a general rule of thumb would
be staying back from your teammates until the initiators (such as Earthshaker and
Tidehunter) have done their job. Nevermore is a poor initiator but is a brilliant hero
for dealing huge amounts of AoE damage and mopping up the battlefield, so to speak.
I would usually check if there are heroes on the other side who have Ultimates that
can go through BKB (such as Beastmasters Primal Roar, Doom Bringers Doom, to list
a few). I would wait till those Ultimates have already been used, and/or they are
already stunned, before I start off my combo.
First of all: make sure you have a cool head, because the next few seconds can
decide the fate of your team.
Secondly: walk up to the battle, preferably at the maximum distance of your blink
(which is around 1150) which corresponds to around two-thirds the length of your
screen.
See how dmZ^hexOr does it! Hes one of my favourite players and this is taken from
one of this DotA videos, DotA: The Truth. See how he activates BKB first?
Thirdly: Activate BKB FIRST. This means that youre invulnerable to magic BEFORE
you blink in, because you wont want to get stunned and get totally trashed once
youre in there.
Fourthly: Blink in, then quickly press R to active Requiem of Souls.
He blinks in and casts Requiem of Souls. His teammate, the brilliant dmZ^Kev, gets
that vacuum in just in time
Fifthly: Use your Shadowrazes to mop up any resistance, snuck in some normal
attacks if possible.
And boom! Triple kill, and great material for a DotA video. HP doesnt really matter
when you have the right items, the skills and some very cooperative teammates!
(Though I think there were some kill-steals!)
If you decided to leave out Kelens Dagger in your item build or decided to use
Lothars Edge, then simply wait after those nasty disables have all been casted, then
walk right in and cast your Ulti. This requires a lot of teamwork to pull off, however,
especially if you leave out Kelens Dagger or Lothars Edge and go straight to Manta
Style. Thats why this particular build is only seen a lot in Clan Wars where you have
reliable teammates.
Follow up items/Luxuries:
Since every game will be different, I wouldnt be going over any particular build or
any sort of a list of rejected items, so to speak. Ive seen professional players put
Vanguard and Dagon on Nevermore and still get a decent score, so be creative! But I
must remind you that 95% of Nevermore games stick to the Boots of Travel + Dagger
+ BKB formula, so if you are playing serious, play it SAFE!
A good item that increases your DPS by more than 2-fold. In most cases its going to
be your first DPS item. You gain plenty of Stats, extra movement speed (on top of
your Boots of Travel or Power Treads) and on top of that, a temporary-invulnerability
activation that allows you to dodge most targeted spells in DotA. Your images do
huge amounts of extra damage and the extra damage multiplies when you get other
DPS items. The only downside is that your images don't benefit from the +60 damage
from Necromastery, however.
AND
A good combo when youre playing against a lot of vulnerable spellcasters, or if you
team is based around an anti-armour theme (such as Nevermore + Slarder + Lanaya
Combo). Just make sure that you have BKB so that they dont nuke you to death
before you can even get your hands on them.
THEN
Lifesteal is something that every DPS-carry will eventually need. But try get Lifesteal
AFTER you buy those DPS items e.g. The Butterfly.
A must for any Agility-carry hero.
Purge works wonders versus Broodmothers Ultimate and Warlocks annoying Infernal,
so you might consider getting this item BEFORE you buy BKB and Kelens Dagger.
Best combined with Lifesteal OR Mjollnir, but Eye of Skadi is very expensive and
doesnt really give your DPS that massive boost that you really want. Gives plenty of
Stats though.
THEN
Works wonders when you farm, but since you already have Shadowraze, Maelstrom
and Mjollnir arent really worth their price. Best combined with Eye of Skadi.
Gives you massive amounts of extra damage. Divine Rapier is a particularly good item
when combined with Satanic, and Ive won several notable games with Nevermore
thanks to a last minute decision of buying Divine Rapier. KuroKy has even recently
gotten Divine Rapier as his FIRST ITEM in one game! So definitely get it if you have
the Aegis of Immortal on you (and VERY good teammates), or if you know EXACTLY
what youre doing!
I actually stopped playing DotA before 6.67 came out, so it is hard to say whether
Ethereal Blade is effective or not on Nevermore. So do experiment with itmaybe it
will work wonders for you, maybe it wouldnt. Whats so wrong about experimenting?
But I have gone Ghost Sceptre on Nevermore before and it works great against
perma-bashers such as Faceless Void. Unfortunately using Ghost Sceptre and BKB at
the same time does not work, but it is still a very viable option against perma-stuns
and Ethereal Blade is a reasonable upgrade item as well. (And also watch when
Faceless Void Timewalks in and uses Chronosphere)
An extra disable and some Stats is never bad, especially for a fast-farmer like
Nevermore. But I won't prioritize this over the usual DPS items unless your team is
really short of disables, or they have farmed-up, buffed-up guys like Troll or PA that
you specifically wishes to target. Nevermore's farm means he can farm Guinsoos very
quickly. I've seen Yamateh put Guinsoos on Nevermore quite a few times, combining
Hex with Kelen's Dagger and the Stygian Desolator to easily take down vulnerable
heroes such as Puck who would've else escaped quite easily.
While Linkens Sphere is relatively more commonly seen as a staple item on
Nevermore, I've been toying around with the ideas of putting Euls, Refresher Orb
and/or Shivas Guard on Nevermore as well. I've actually never tried them out in a
real game (though I have seen ChuaN putting Euls on Nevermore and still get a
decent score, even though his team eventually lost).
Shivas Guard gives lots of armour (which is always good), plenty of Mana, a very
useful -IAS Aura in team fights and Arctic Blast which works in sync with
Nevermore's Ultimate. I think it's a very interesting build on Nevermore. Refresher Orb
can work wonders if you have good teammates. Finally, Euls needs no real
explanation. Cyclone, activate your Ultimate and they will receive massive amounts
of damage when they come back down.
There's a couple of interesting ideas. There's no limit when it comes to thinking up
item ideas.
* * *
The thing about Nevermore is that while hes an insanely fast pusher and a very fast
farmer, the items that makes him EFFECTIVE in battle are not those big DPS item you
load on him, but things like BKB and Kelens Dagger that maximizes Nevermores ability
to deal a huge amount of AoE damage in a very short amount of time. Try not to
over-farm with Nevermore, even though it is a temptation for most players. His only
advantage over other DPS carries, really, is that Nevermore is a great AoE hero in
the middle game and the fact that he can pretty much out-farm every other hero in
the game. And THAT'S IT.
Nevermore is a good AoE carry, but hes not that great of a DPS carry like Phantom
Assassinwho can single-handedly turn the tide of the battle with a couple of crits.
Your job, in the late game, is not to out-farm your opponent, but to act as a pusher
and do what you can to make sure your team wins those important team battles.
Sometimes you might even have to sacrifice yourself for a Tower so that you can
buy back and push the other side. But really thats out of the scope of this Guide.
Best Allies:
Heroes with big AoE Ultimates that can help you pull off your Ultimate. Thanks to
Magnuss new ability, Skewer, it is possible to land a good combo with Nevermore
without the help of Kelens Dagger. Magnus can also Empower Nevermore, which
makes them a pair to be feared.
Heroes with mass-disables or Abilities can help you land that Ultimate or a couple of
razes, so have them on your team never hurts. Ogres Bloodlust helps, too. Dark
Seers Vacuum works wonders with Requiem of Souls. Omniknight's Repel gives you a
free BKB and his Ultimate is a team-saver.
Great anti-armour synergy. Works incredibly well in a team, especially with Stygian
Desolator and Assault Cuirass.
Worst Enemies:
Heroes with some sort of ability that can go through your BKB. Be very careful in
team battles when you see those guys around. With Treant Protector, however, you
can actually wait till he casts his Ultimate, and if you then activate your BKB, you
will no longer be disabled. Make sure you get the order right! Wait for Treants
Ultimate, then BKB! (Manta Style works too)
Insanely fast pushers who can easily push back that massive creep wave youve just
created/sent. Tinker is particularly annoying as he can push all three lanes at the
same time and his Rearm can be very annoying when he starts perma-hexing you.
Try ganking Tinker as often as possible and farm that BKB ASAP.
Remember: I havent listed every single hero from each category here. Ive
listed the ones I felt were the MOST dangerous to fight against (or the most
helpful on my team).
Part Four: Dawn of Battle

I remembered when I was first introduced to DotA three years ago (version 6.48),
and Ill be honest with you guys, the first time I played it, I thought it was the most
boring game on the planet and I thought I would never even touch it again. I was
wrong. DotA became quite an important part in my life and Ive played countless
games of pubs and numerous Inhouse games. Clan Wars never really became a part
of me but Ive watched countless professional replays and I understand how
professionals play DotA and how they are different from us, the amateur DotA
community.
Nevermore the Shadow Fiend is one of the most unique heroes in DotA, not only in
terms of abilities but also in terms of looks, because I rank him as one of the coolest
looking heroes out there (okay, maybe Terrorblade looks just that tad bit better)
thanks to his beautiful tan and his gangster walk. Most importantly, however,
Nevermore is incredibly versatile as a hero. Not only is he an excellent ganker, but he
also excels as a pusher, has lots of AoE and DPS and can step up as a Carry should
the need arise. Hes also incredibly fun to play, which means Nevermore is one of the
most often seen heroes in DotA videos and various montages.
It is important, from my personal experience, to never over-farm with Nevermore. He
cant beat Phantom Assassin. He cant beat Drow Ranger. In fact, he cant even beat
Sven. But dealing raw damage isnt what Nevermore is BEST at. Nevermore can deal
a huge amount of AoE damage and thats what makes or breaks those mid-game
team battles. Make sure you get those razes right, get your Ulti out in time, and farm
that BKB ASAP. Trust me, thats how it works. Please, don't overfarm with him. I see
this A LOT in some replays. Don't do it.
Eventually, to get past a certain level of skill and competence, youll have to play
every day with your clan mates/friends and I have no time for that. There are
leagues out there such as AEDL and CDEC (the latter got a bit controversial thanks
to ) Theres so much more to life than just DotA and Ive enjoyed everything
DotAs given me. Im looking for a rather artistic career in the future and that
demands a lot of time too. So DotA is definitely a no-no.
This is my tribute to Nevermore the Shadow Fiend. Play your BEST in every single
game. Never rage-quit. Never blame it on your teammates. Practice makes perfect.
And seriously, its just a game. Farming for 60 minutes is never fun.
And be devious with Nevermore! Be different! And trust me, it will be worth your
while.
THE END
Credits:
@ Replays.Net, for his Nevermore guide that directly inspired this one.
Thanks a lot.
Clan fRsMe (epic gank), Drew (epic farm), Shel (epic support), J.C (epic feed).
You guys arent just friends in DotA. You guys are my real friends too and even
though we dont play DotA anymore, were still the best of buddies. Thanks a lot,
guys.
Clan Acedfears0m, enternamehere, Frozenwaste, wheresthefun_09,
Dark_X_Rogue, uandirfriends, bizzaround (only person who beat me in a 1v1) and

many others whom Ive played against.playing all those games of Inhouse and various
Scrims have been very fun. Thanks a lot for you guys support! (says Feral the King
of Ks.)
dmZ^hexOr, Tews, Sogovegeta, Nirvana.Kuroky (Say_43_plz) for their
awesome gameplay and videos. You guys make DotA more accessible and much more
entertaining to watch.
My parents: for allowing their son to play DotA all the way to 1 in the morning and
not growl at him the next day.
Garena gamers in Oceania: Hey guys, remember FeRaL.Spirits and MiRaGe_? Yeap.
Thats me. Most of you guys think Im pro, some think that Im just a Noobferal. But
that doesnt stop me from getting Beyond Godlike with Nevermore even when Im on
the losing team, LOL (okay, maybe I do feed once a while!).
The people at the PlayDotA forums: Thank you so much for your critiques! They
really help to make this guide better than it is.
SPECIAL THANKS to ACECHILING: For his constructive criticism. Made the guide a
lot more readable and accessible, plus a VERY detailed explanation of putting on tabs
Thanks a lot ^^
The people on the SGamer and Replays.Net forums: For you guys, it's all about
'Spring Brother' and 'Blast spit at each other'. ().You guys really make
me realize how much of a noob I am compared to the Chinese players in VS Platform.
And you guys make the game funny too. And you guys have VERY NICE signatures.
Inspirational DotA Players such as: Loda (Lodalicious <3), LightOfHeaveN, KuroKy,
plzgogame^_^, DemoN, H4NN1, AngeL, Kev, GK, ChuaN, Longdd, Snoy, YamateH,
Hyhy, Travka, Dendi and last but not least, Vigoss. You guys have turned playing
Nevermore into an art form! (Okay, Loda's SF definetely went downhill. But he's the
one who started this whole SF craze, right?)
And last but not least, Icefrog, for creating a great game and the most interesting
hero to ever exist. Who would think of making a hero whos 100% black! Good work,
Icefrog! Dont let HoN take advantage of your creative ideas!
"Nevermore is all about courage, skills and experience. Farming

comes after."
A
DotA Video Links:
DotA: The Truth

YouTube - DotA - The Truth
Nevermore the Dark Knight Returns (I <3 Melodic Death Metal) YouTube - DotA Nevermore The Dark Knight Returns
Tewss YouTube Channel YouTube - TewsLoEX
Say_43_Plzs YouTube Channel (Plenty of well-edited, exhilarating DotA videos)
YouTube - say43plz
Nevermore Replays Links
[???]LGD vs Nirvana.cn - DOTA????_????DOTA???? Version 6.67c

Typical farming Nevermore in a professional match. He manages to farm Boots of
Travel in 9 minutes and this is typical of many Clan Wars nowadays. Not particularly
exciting to watch, but its still important you understand how farming works. Getting
a blind raze might be exciting, but some solid farm can take you a long way.
[PUB]MIX vs PIS - DOTA????_????DOTA???? Version 6.66b
The great Chinese DotA player, PIS shows off his Nevermore in a high-ranking pub
game. A must watch!

[AEDL]CH vs Fear - DOTA????_????DOTA????Version 6.66b
Fear vs. Ksss. Both great professional players. See how Fears Viper completely
dominates Kssss Nevermore earlier on, but Kssss still scrapes a decent game (even
though his team eventually lost). Gives you an idea of why Viper is so dangerous
versus Nevermore.
[CW]ZSMJ vs CH - DOTA????_????DOTA???? Version 6.66b
A top-ranking Chinese Inhouse game. See how Sentinels Tinker gets Beyond Godlike
in 10 minutes and gets his 8 minute Boots of Travel, and see how Scourges
Nevermore leads the charge to turn the tide. Nevermore works well in a team when
backed by heroes such as Slarder and Shadow Priest who can take a lot of armour
off their opponents.
http://www.playdota.com/forums/20222...na-int-vs-dts/
(Thanks to Tones_ for this replay
)
The third game in a 3-game match between two of the world's strongest DotA
teams, DTS and Nirvana-int. See how one of my favourite DotA player,
LightOfHeaveN, manages to really 'farm up' with SF and use BKB to great effect (see
how he activated BKB then teleported away at the 41st mark and used BKB to
activate Requiem of Souls at the 43rd mark). For those guys out there who also play
Clan Wars, see how the wards from DTS dampens Nirvana's double roam. Great
replay!
* * *
Bonus content #2: Warding Locations for the Shadow Fiend

Show
Credits to Heldarion for allowing me to use his images from his Warding Guide!
Thanks a lot!
Heldarion's Total Warding
For the Sentinel Player
Provides good vision of the Scourge Mid Lane and some vision of the river to avoid
any gankers from coming down from there.
Provides total vision to the Scourge Mid Lane and some vision of the other side of
the river to avoid any ganks from the bottom lane.
For the Scourge Player
Provides a HUGE amount of vision-the vision includes the runes, a very large
stretch of the river and vision between the Scourge and Sentinel Tier 1 Towers.
Similar to the previous example. This ward is also useful towards the late game
when there are heros such as Luna and Dragon Knight on the Sentinel Side who
can pull Ancient Creeps with their Helm of the Dominator creeps.
Offers vision on the Sentinel Side of the river, particularly useful if there's a Mirana
or Pudge on the other side.
For Both Sides
Not so much of a ward 'just for the mid solo', this ward is useful for both vision
and control of the rune.
* * *
This Guide is for my Beloved :

May Your Tranquil Beauty Never Wither with the Passing Sands of Time

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LoveYueru's Complete Guide to

Nevermore, the Shadow Fiend

Nevermore | | Shadow Fiend

Nevermore guide by LoveYueru

Alt-Tab Concise Guide for the Shadow Fiend

Level 9: Requiem of Souls

Early Game Items:

(If your game is not going so well)

Hero Profile: Nevermore the Shadow Fiend

Part One: the Shadow Fiend's Arsenal

Unfortunately, Necromastery loses a lot of its effectiveness towards the late-game,

Presence of the Dark Lord

or a free Ultimate Orb? (Well, almost an Ultimate Orb anyway)

Perhaps a difficult-to-explain ability to some, but the mechanism is simplethe

Nevermore's Ultimate can do a massive amount of damage in team battles. This is

If Nevermores character model completely overlaps with the target (achievable

Getting things like these first...

Is better than getting these first!

Boom comes in the Sprout...Drow Ranger is taken completely by surprise. I take my

And boom comes in the Z raze. An easy kill for Nevermore.

And voila! Shadowraze gets in just in time. A testament to Sogovegetas amazing

So you may askwhat do I mean by precise clicking?

It is virtually impossible to list every scenario where precise clicking is

Part Two: Taking the Solo

Beastmasters potency as a solo is mainly due to his ability to harass, his

nuke would mean he would get out-laned very quickly.

Broodmother can be a nightmare to solo against. The main differences between

Tinker is probably one of Nevermores most renowned archenemies (that includes

Part Three: Unleashing Havoc

Middle Game Items:

Plus the items you already have:

an AoE hero than a carry.

So When Should I Expect Myself to Get Those Items?

AFTER you buy those DPS items e.g. The Butterfly.

A must for any Agility-carry hero.

While Linkens Sphere is relatively more commonly seen as a staple item on

Part Four: Dawn of Battle

Dark_X_Rogue, uandirfriends, bizzaround (only person who beat me in a 1v1) and

"Nevermore is all about courage, skills and experience. Farming

DotA Video Links:

DotA: The Truth

Nevermore Replays Links

[???]LGD vs Nirvana.cn - DOTA????_????DOTA???? Version 6.67c

game. A must watch!

Bonus content #2: Warding Locations for the Shadow Fiend

Heldarion's Total Warding

For the Sentinel Player

For the Scourge Player

For Both Sides

This Guide is for my Beloved :

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