Shadow Fiend's only defense lies in his superb offense. After every life he takes, he traps their soul to empower his attack damage with Necromastery. This allows him to amass high attack damage. His ultimate, Requiem of Souls, can summon these souls to inflict great damage on those enemies foolish enough to venture within reach. His unique Shadowraze allows him to blast opponents in small areas, at three separate distances. Another ability, Presence of the Dark Lord, makes enemies more vulnerable to physical damage, passively reducing their armor. Deadly from a number of distances, but vulnerable if caught off guard, Shadow Fiend's positioning in battle is of utmost importance.
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A massive leviathan of incredible strength and toughness, Tidehunter is a real tank. Using his Gush skill, he can slow and damage a single target while reducing their armor, allowing him and his allies to pummel the target to a pulp. To aid his close combat skills, Tidehunter has a powerful Anchor Smash spell, which he can use to unleash a devastating area of effect spin attack. A target of Gush who is hit by an Anchor Smash or two is in deep trouble. To protect himself while chasing down and smashing enemies, Tidehunter has a passive: Kraken Shell. This ability reduces all damage from physical attacks by a set number, allowing the Leviathan to wade into combat without fear, ignoring the blows of lesser foes. Kraken Shell also occasionally dispels negative spell effects, making him even more difficult to stop. By far the most feared ability of the Tidehunter is Ravage. This mighty ability allows the Tidehunter to cause immense damage and stun all enemies in a large area around him. This ability is most effective in large team battles, where it is a simple matter to hit the entire enemy team at once with its writhing tentacles, setting up the Tidehunter and his allies for an easy victory.
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Venomancer is a hideous monstrosity who casts an assortment of toxins to bring down his enemies. He uses a fast Venomous Gale attack to project his poison at all enemies in a narrow path in front of him, slowing victims greatly and dealing damage over time. His attacks are coated with Poisonous Stingers that both slow and damage afflicted enemies. He can summon Plague Wards to do his bidding-deploying them either far out in front of him to scout, or in the heart of the bloody battle itself, to fight and weaken enemies. The wards can also be used to push and block off routes of attack or escape. His ultimate attack, Poison Nova, unleashes a potent toxin in a large ring around his body, infecting everyone it hits, dealing large damage, but over a long time. Though this toxin isn't lethal, every other poison he carries is. He is exceptional at weakening enemies, and slowing them down so that they don't stand a chance in team fights.
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Lion is a strong offensive spellcaster with excellent disabling capabilities. Although his primary attack spell, Spike, deals relatively low damage, it has a long stun and can hit multiple targets easily. Its low damage is more than compensated for by Lion's Finger of Death, which deals very high damage to a single enemy target. Finger of Death is an excellent finishing spell for injured enemies. Although Spike alone is a good disabling spell, Lion has a second strong disable: Hex. Hex can transform an enemy hero into a critter for a few seconds, allowing Lion and his allies time to finish them off. Lion's spells all cost quite a bit of mana, but he can quickly regain it using Mana Drain. This spell is effective for draining an enemy hero's mana, or giving Lion a quick mana boost from a ranged creep. This hero is a good choice for newer players, but at the same time he is fragile and must walk a fine line between caution and aggression to emerge victorious.
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Vengeful Spirit is so driven to seek revenge against her foes that she will sacrifice herself if it gives an advantage to her team. Her Magic Missiles stun and damage targets. Releasing Wave of Terror, she exposes an oncoming enemy while shredding its armor and dulling its ability to damage. Her lust for vengeance is contagious: nearby allies feel compelled to deal more damage. Even though she is not a particularly tough or agile hero, she will Swap her position with a key enemy or allied hero in an instant, disregarding her own safety for a promise of sweet revenge.
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A hero for adrenaline junkies, Storm Spirit provides arguably the best nonstop movement of any hero, and is commonly seen bouncing around the battlefield, zapping his foes and zippingaway. Storm Spirit mixes up physical attacks spell damage. Static Remnant lays down a flickering electrical clone, which on contact will explode, delivering shocks to all foes in the vicinity. Electric Vortex is a powerful disabling spell, which Storm Spirit uses to reel in enemies; he especially likes to reel them into a Static Remnant. Completing this combo, Overload adds a blast of electricity to every spell he casts. Storm Spirit's ultimate ability is Ball Lightning, a teleportation spell with no cooldown and no maximum range, which gives Storm Spirit the ability to zap around the map as long as his mana and regeneration don't give out. Like a storm, this hero gathers strength slowly, but once at full power, he is an unstoppable force of nature.
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Mirana is known for her deadly Arrow, whose stunning impact is greater the farther it has flown. With Starstorm, she can call a deadly rain of stars upon enemies. Her agile mount's Leap carries her swiftly out of ambushes, or lets her swiftly close the distance to a fleeing prey, while gracing her allies with the shared gift of speed. Her ultimate, Moonlight Shadow, enables her to briefly render her entire team invisible, useful for surprise attacks as well as for retreat. Always hard to trap, Mirana is most feared when she is the one doing the hunting.
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Although the Earthshaker is a strength hero, his real power lies in his spells. With a well-placed Echo Slam, he can single-handedly level an entire team if his enemies are foolish enough to bunch together. His Fissure spell is very versatile. While it stuns and causes damage, it also creates an impassible wall of stone, trapping hapless foes between a rock and a hard place. Enchant Totem gives Earthshaker a significant damage boost for one attack, while his passive Aftershock ability causes a minor stun and damage effect every time he casts one of his spells. Although he is one of the more difficult heroes to use to his full capacity, he can be one of the most deadly in skilled hands.
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Nature's Prophet is an unusual intelligence hero. His only damaging spell is his ultimate, Wrath of Nature, which is most effective when cast as far as possible from its intended victims. Instead of offensive spells, he relies on his physical attack and his allies to take down enemies. With his summoned army of Treants, he is a great lane pusher. His main advantage is his amazing mobility. Using Teleportation, he can jaunt anywhere on the battlefield at will. A player with good map awareness is invaluable help to his allies, since he can potentially join any battle, anywhere on the map. With Sprout, he can trap enemy heroes and then finish them off with his strong physical attack and allied help. He can summon an army of Treants with Nature's Call and quickly destroy enemy towers and structures before the enemy can regroup to retaliate. His final spell, Wrath of Nature, can be used to soften up targets across the map while drawing large amounts of gold from enemy creeps. Whether you wish to play Nature's Prophet, or effectively oppose him, map awareness is key.
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Loved by aggressive players everywhere, Puck is one of the best heroes for starting fights. Puck's highly flexible skill set is useful in any situation, making Puck a great hero in both support and offensive roles. Illusory Orb functions like a regular line damage spell--yet at any point along its course, Puck can use Ethereal Jaunt to instantly teleport to Illusory Orb's position. This makes the spell useful for both attacking and escaping. It also meshes perfectly with Puck's offensive spell, Waning Rift. Waning Rift deals damage and silence in an area around Puck, making it the natural choice for use after an Illusory Orb and Ethereal Jaunt. Puck's final offensive spell, Dream Coil, can be used either before or after this combo with great effect. Trapping enemies in a small area, Dream Coil forces them to remain near the target point or take damage and get stunned. Phase Shift, meanwhile, renders Puck invulnerable for several seconds--a highly useful skill on the frequent occasions when Puck ends up right in the middle of the fray. Puck is a relatively easy hero to pick up, and a highly rewarding one to master.
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